Join Hands and Heart

The great redwood trees in California have always fascinated me. I was very young the only time I ever actually saw them; but I remember seeing pictures of ones so big they had cars driving through them on roads. Some of them are 300 feet high and 2,500 years old! Since most trees have a root system that is as deep as the tree is tall, a redwood’s root system could be expected to be vast, but that isn’t true. It has a shallow root system! The secret of its survival is its dependence on other redwood trees. They grow in groves, so that their roots intertwine and support each other.

We tend to admire most the “independent” person; but as the redwood trees prove, to be great requires support from others. This is particularly true in our ever-mobile society. 

Some things that keep us from seeking each other’s help are that we are:

1. too proud to admit our needs to others;
2. tempted to think we know who will or will not help us;
3. certain we know what other people are capable of or interested in;
4. too over-extended to take the time to explain the need; or
5. sure that the other person doesn’t have time.

By intertwining my life with other people, I can be stronger than if I try to stand alone. It is imperative that the homosexual community understand that there are people willing to stand with you as you seek out a relationship with Jesus. There is no true healing, without Him. There is nowhere to go to find out whom you really are except to the Christ of the Bible. I am not speaking of gay or straight now; I am referring to what God’s Word has to say about our value in His eyes. He created us in His image, for His glory, His pleasure and His inheritance. He knows whom He intended you to be from before you were even thought of in this world. In the Message Bible, Jeremiah 29:11-14 records that God has a plan for you. It says:

I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. "When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree: "I'll turn things around for you.”

If your root system is shallow, join hands and hearts with those who extend theirs.