When Life Cuts You Down, Grow Deeper Roots
My husband planted a couple of tomato plants on our back porch. A few did not do very well, but one plant began to thrive.
We were delighted to see it growing tall and healthy.
Then one day, I walked outside and saw that a deer had eaten it down to the stalk.
At first it seemed hopeless, but we decided to keep watering it. To our surprise, the roots grew stronger.
Have you ever felt like that tomato plant? You were moving forward, things seemed to be going well, and suddenly life cut you off.
Maybe it was a job loss, the end of a friendship, a painful divorce, or a physical illness.
Whatever the case, your momentum stopped, and your growth felt stunted.
It can be discouraging. It can even feel hopeless. These are the times when our faith and love are tested most.
The Apostle Paul knew that feeling well.
He faced persecution, imprisonment, beatings, shipwrecks, betrayals, and physical weakness.
In fact he asked God to take away what he called his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7).
When it did not go away, he pleaded with God to remove it.
You and I both have prayed the same kinds of prayers.
God’s Supernatural Provision of Grace Is Available
To Paul’s surprise, God did not remove the hardship. Instead, the Lord spoke these powerful words:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9 NKJV).
God was showing Paul that His grace is abundant, unending, and always sufficient.
His supernatural strength is available through the Holy Spirit, especially when life feels impossible.
Paul received this truth into his heart and learned a powerful secret. He said:
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10 NIV).
He was not relying on shallow optimism or positive thinking.
He was relying on revelation about God’s nature.
Paul realized that where his own human strength failed, there was a greater opportunity for God’s strength to show up.
His lack created space for God’s fullness. His weakness became the doorway to divine power.
Friend, the same is true for you and me.
When we feel cut off, God is inviting us to seek Him, ask for His strength, and draw from His abundant grace.
Seek and Ask Him Honestly With All Your Heart
The key is to ask and seek with with our heart. The Scripture promises, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jer 29:13 NIV).
Paul’s life demonstrates that he learned how to access God’s divine provision. God’s sustaining grace gave him confidence to declare in the middle of his trials:
- “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ” (2 Cor 2:14).
- “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:57).
- “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:37).
Do you see the theme? No matter what cut Paul down, the grace of God carried him forward into victory.
Paul pressed into God’s grace. His roots went deep into faith of God’s love and provision.
As a result, he wrote much of the New Testament, established churches across the Roman Empire, raised up leaders, and left a legacy of faith that still inspires us today.
None of that would have happened if his life had been easy.
Paul learned the lesson of growing his roots deep to tap into God’s all sufficient grace and strength.
God Wants Us To Rely On His Grace in Hard Times
And this is a key lesson for us to learn as well.
But sometimes we forget in the middle of our struggles.
We are supposed to call out to, rely on, tap into, and ask for the supernatural grace and strength of God.
Often we don’t have because we don’t ask or keep on asking!
God’s grace is abundantly sufficient for us when we ask!
Harvest Can Come More Quickly Than We Think
After that deer ate our tomato plant down to nothing, it started growing again.
In just two weeks, it produced the kind of growth that normally would have taken two months.
Soon it bore tomatoes because it continued to grow. Its roots went deeper, and that made all the difference.
You are not going to miss your purpose. Each season has a purpose of its own!
Just like my tomato plant, God can bring harvest in a short time, regardless of the long delay.
Your life may not look like it’s bearing fruit right now. But God specializes in restoration.
He restores what was stolen, wasted, delayed, even when you’ve prayed for months, years, or even decades without seeing obvious progress.
God reminds us in Joel:
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm.” (Joel 2:25 NKJV)
Your life is not defined by missed opportunities or delays. You are still growing!
In summary:
- When it seems we are stuck or get cut, God’s grace strengthens our roots.
- In weakness, God’s power shows up greater.
- Our God restores lost seasons and sometimes in miraculous speed.
So today, ask Him for fresh grace and invite Him to strengthen you. Then make this part of your daily prayer strategy: to ask for your daily grace!
You will see the difference as His strength carries you through.
Thanks for reading. I pray you are blessed abundantly as you to grow deep. I release the anointing to persevere and finish the work God has given you to do!
Related Resources:
Faith to Move Mountains When You Feel Small: Be inspired in faith to move mountains, even if you feel small or buried under mountains of muck.
Why Does God Allow Suffering? Faith When Life is Hard: “Why does God allow suffering?” We look at four types of suffering the believer faces. Then, we will peek at what happens when we move beyond the “why” questions.
How to Stand in Faith in Hard Times : How to stand in faith in hard times and impossible situations. Find encouragement and practical advice to see God’s promises fulfilled. in your life!
