Psalm 80:9– You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.

If you recall about a week ago we had some pretty severe winds (at least in Lacey). Where we live, our area is “lined” with trees that may have been planted a few years ago.  But the winds were so severe they uprooted them, and what was meant to aesthetically define the neighborhood, now has become a “sore spot” for it…

Maybe the hardest “mental shift” that Christians have to make from the mindset of being “of the world”, is that aesthetics or “looking good” is not God’s priority, nor should it be ours.  That is not to say we should not care at all how we appear to others. Yet it cannot be the priority of our lives, over establishing a foundation that is grounded and growing in Christ.

The Psalmist is speaking about the nation of Israel, and how God did everything for them to be prosperous, and effect the other nations for His own glory.  Notice that God “cleared the ground” for them to prosper.  So it was His grace or power, to remove things that could keep them from having “deep roots” to effect the land…

The struggle with focusing on God to establish “deep roots” is that people can’t see roots!  So if our focus is on impressing other people, and outdoing others to find value, you will not focus consistently on things people can’t see.  Which is why Christ must be our focus, because nothing will reveal how deep our roots are like a storm!

Examine whether your focus has been to live by sight, and to look aesthetically pleasing to people, or striving to live by faith in order to please to God?

In His Love, Ld