Job 14: Deeper Roots

Today’s Scripture Reading: Job 14

Something that we can learn in reflection to our study on Job is that life can be full of joy and celebration at times, but it can also be mundane, and be filled with times of sickness, loneliness, and downright disappointment. Even more painful is to experience a death in the family or amongst friends and to have lost that person suddenly. In most cases, a death in the family can be so grieving it can consume us. Simply put, life is not always fair.

But how much more grieving was it for Job? We have a one up on Job because we can acknowledge the resurrection of the dead which is given to humanity through Jesus Christ, but how much Job feel? In verses 7-10 he laments:

At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.

He also states:

If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin. (v. 15-17)

Job is struggling with whether his children have gone to be with the Lord, although he is confident in asking the Lord that he would himself. In some implicit manner, Job hopes that the Lord would be willing enough to bring them back from the dead – whether in heaven or on earth. One thing that we are in so many ways advantageous over Job’s predicament is that we know the dead will be brought to life in the promise of His Son, in the power of his resurrection.

But here is the truth. It was not enough that Job’s children knew the doctrine of God’s covenant. Simply saying we believe is not enough – and that can be a frightening notion for some! Our roots must go much deeper and begin to sink into the depths of our very being and soul. But in order for this to occur, it requires moments of pain, of drought, and of challenges.

As I was thinking about the illustration of trees, I was lead to look at a number of articles, and found an excerpt from a published article from the PMC US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, Frontiers in Plant Science:

It is well documented that tree species adapted to dry climatic regimes generally have higher root-to-shoot ratios and deeper root systems than species that are more suited to mesic climatic conditions (Kozlowski and Pallardy, 2002; Hartmann, 2011). A meta-analysis of forest and woodland species from temperate and tropical regions showed a significant increase in the root-to-shoot ratio with a decrease in annual precipitation, from about 0.2 at 3000 mm.year-1 to about 0.4 at 500 mm.year-1 (Mokany et al., 2006). Similarly, in a survey of 62 tropical tree species, seedlings from dry forests were found to have a higher belowground biomass and deeper roots than seedlings from moist forests (Markesteijn and Poorter, 2009). Therefore, tree species adapted to dry conditions tend to invest more biomass into longer-lasting root organs, thus optimizing water uptake, while simultaneously minimizing water loss from transpiration. ^[1]

If we have to learn anything from even science and God’s creation, is that when life is most difficult, most painful and even dry – we ought to be driven to grow deeper in our relationship with the father. It must go way beyond our superficial knowledge of simple or even complex doctrines. Jesus must become our deepest and truest assurance for hope and life ^[2]. There is one thing to know God in our heads, or feel moved time to time by certain spiritual quotes or songs. But it is most pleasing to God that we be certain enough to grow deeper and pursue after the presence of God even more when the running gets dry.

As difficult as it might be for some of us to hear this truth, and although it is hard to justify the pain we might be enduring, there is a purpose and necessity to our suffering and struggles. It is so that it might lead you to be even closer to Him, that you might know his grace even slightly more today than yesterday.

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. – Psalm 63:7-8

Brunner, Ivano et al. “How Tree Roots Respond to Drought.” Frontiers in Plant Science 6 (2015): 547. PMC. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
Life Application Study Bible (NASB) – Grand Rapids – Zondervan Publishing House – 2000.

Photo by: Ståle Grut, https://unsplash.com/stalebg