DEEP ROOT CANAL

My soul desire is to become deeply planted in Christ.

I know He continues to do a deep cleaning in my soul.

I have some pretty deep roots that need to be cleaned out and replaced that have been infected and ignored over the years. Unfortunately, not like root canal, there is no Novocain to deaden the pain during this process. Some times I would welcome a root canal over the cleaning of my inner pain, i.e. shame!

Oh, but if I would ignore my inner pain, it would just become worse and worse with more infection and the pain would always be there no matter what. Sure I could cover it up, which I have done so many years, by wearing so many masks and pretending "I am okay, nothing is wrong with me." But like a ignored root canal, I would always be reminded some how by the intense pain. Where I would feel I was dying inside. Never getting any medication (help) to deaden my emotional turmoil.

So in the devotional below, as God removes the infected roots from our lives, He then can replace them with good soil that can grow healthy and stronger roots in order to flourish!

I encourage any of you today to let God do a root canal on you. It is not going to be easy. There will be times when you will be in intense pain and want to give up and jump out of that chair.

But don't!

I encourage you to wrap your hands around the arm rests of God and hang on tight as He does His deep cleaning on you!

I am still in the process of my root canal.

But, I certainly can tell you that the pain will be worth it in the end.

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power . . .to grasp . . . the love of Christ." Ephesians 3:17

We all have root systems. Roots are life-lines. They seek out and drink in water and nutrients. And they provide stability in times of wind and erosion.

Unfortunately, many of us are rooted in the soil of shame. Roots in this rocky soil become bound. They cannot sustain growth. They are not able to provide nourishment or stability.

Recovery for many of us is like being transplanted. It is the process of allowing God to first pull us out of the parched and rocky soil of shame and to then plant us in the soil of love. In the rich soil of love our fragile roots can finally begin to stretch, grow and take hold. It is a soil in which real nourishment and real stability are possible.

But transplantation is not a simple matter. No matter how gently God pulls us up out of the soil of shame, there will be trauma. And sinking roots in new soil will feel like an unfamiliar and risky adventure.

As our roots sink deeper and deeper in the soil of God's love, however, we will begin to experience growth that never could have been possible in the soil of rejection and shame. We will become 'rooted and established' in love.

My roots are in poor soil, Lord.
They do not nourish.
They provide no stability.
My roots are bound, Lord.
Transplant me.
Give me grace-full soil, Lord.
Sink my roots deeply.
Give me stability.
Nourish me.
In your love.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan