Reinforced and Rooted

The other day I was helping a friend of my daughter to lay some concrete on her front driveway. The road level was several inches above the drive level, and we were making a slope to connect the two. The infill for this slope was probably not the best of materials. It was crushable, loose and had a lot of gravel in it. I was concerned that we might put the concrete on and the infill would give way and the new slope would collapse. Our remedy was to put a sheet of reinforcing steel mesh in the concrete, to provide the necessary strength even if the infill were to shift a bit. Time will tell if we got it right!

The Apostle Paul knew that human beings have weak points in them. His prayer for the Ephesian Christians included a plea that the Lord would provide the necessary reinforcing out of his glorious riches to enable these believers to continue their walk with God. He wanted them to be able to grow in their knowledge and experience of God’s love. He prayed for the Lord to strengthen them powerfully through the Spirit of Christ, so they would be rooted and established in love. The result would be Christians with an inner spiritual strengthening - solid believers with a reinforced core!

There are times when we may feel that we’re on shaky ground. Maybe we’re moving into uncertain futures or ministries, or maybe we’re living in a hostile environment. There’s a danger we could collapse. Let’s take Paul's prayer for the Ephesian Christians for ourselves and seek the Lord to strengthen us by His Spirit, so we’ll remain rooted and grounded in love, not crushed and broken by our situation.

Prayer: There are times when the foundations of my life have been inadequate - sometimes because of what I've done and sometimes because of what others have done. Help me to see where reinforcement is needed, so that I will not break under the pressures of life. In Jesus, Amen.