The Uprooting!

LET’S TALK about the uprooting! According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, uproot means “to remove as if by pulling up”, “to pull up by the roots”, “to displace from a country or traditional habitat”. When I think of that word, I think of this year because God began to uproot all things within me that hindered me from fully serving my purpose for His Kingdom.

Prior to being intentional with my walk with God, I mainly wanted to please my flesh. I still wanted to walk in unforgiveness because “I hadn’t done anything wrong”. I still wanted to ignore the parts of me that needed to be healed. I still wanted to live life the way I had planned to live it. I still wanted to be luckwarm. I still wanted to please people. I still wanted love from all of the wrong places. I still wanted to rely on sex and alcohol as my coping mechanisms. I still wanted to suppress my emotions and remain “heartless”. I still wanted to pimp God and His Spirit when I needed or desired certain things. I still wanted to maintain control. Eventually, I could no longer resist God’s pull on my heart so I made a decision to surrender to Him and His will for my life. As mentioned in the “Walk with God” post, I began to consistently pray, fast, study my Bible, attend church, and listen for God’s voice. Shortly thereafter, God began an uprooting within my soul. He began to uproot unforgiveness, hatred, hurt, manipulation, pain, soul ties, strongholds, bad habits, false teachings, lust, addiction, etc.

What can the uprooting process look like? It will look like laying down your will and picking God’s will up; trusting God when you do not understand or see the way; speaking life when you desire to curse someone out; shutting up when you desire to speak or react; staying home when you know you don’t need to go certain places; identifying and dealing with the sources of your triggers; saying no when your flesh desires to say yes; allowing space when you desire to be close; praying for people instead of arguing with them; forgiving and forgetting instead of holding grudges; realizing that yes they were wrong AND SO WERE YOU; asking for forgiveness although you don’t feel as if you are wrong; walking away when God instructs you to; seeking God in all things instead of seeking your friends’ or your own opinion; fighting through anxiety, depression, and loneliness instead of surrendering to them; falling down and getting back up again; learning to fight (spiritually) all by yourself…just you and God; surrendering to being delivered from any negative coping mechanisms (smoking, alcoholism, fornication, pornography, etc); transforming from being heartless to addressing and working through your emotions; renewing your mindset; healing from your childhood traumas; being delivered from people pleasing; rebuking the devil’s attacks on your mind; BEING LEAD BY THE SPIRIT instead of being lead by your flesh!

The uprooting is essentially God pulling up your learned behaviors, thoughts patterns, etc and replacing them with His characteristics. The process can be PAINFUL, but it is NECESSARY. Through the uprooting, God begins to develop consistency, determination, longsuffering, endurance, love, patience, kindness, etc. within you. Being a person who was heavily in the world, I felt as if this process took me by force. The changes I endure, at times, are overwhelming, but I remain dedicated to God and trust His work. In my opinion, the most essential practice that aides in this lifelong process of uprooting is PRAYER (Philippians 4:6&7 and Ephesians 6:17&18).

What will it take for you to surrender to God? How long will you wait to make a decision to surrender to God? Are you ready to surrender to God now? Have you made a decision to live for God? Has the uprooting process began? Will you continue to sacrifice yourself for God’s purposes throughout this lifelong uprooting process? Will you continue to seek God’s face? Are you seeing the new you come forth? Are you being led by God’s spirit?

If God has began an uprooting within you, I encourage you not to look back (Luke 9:62), to press through the pain (2 Corinthians 4:17&18), know that the uprooting has a purpose (Romans 8:28), and pass the testing (James 1:2-4).

Read, dissect, and meditate on Revelation 3:14-21, Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, Jeremiah 31:28, Matthew 15:13, Philippians 2:5, 1 John 2:6, and 1 Peter 2:21-25.