Healthy Roots

Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

In a storyline on the drama series Grey’s Anatomy, the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with a patient who was admitted. They ran tests, did research, collaborated with others, and they just couldn’t figure it out. So, they decided to bring in a Master Diagnostic Technician. And yet, even with her advanced knowledge and experience, she couldn’t figure out what was going on either.

She ordered the doctors to stop all of the patient’s medications. The medications were masking the patient’s symptoms, so they could not diagnose her properly. The Master Diagnostic Technician said the disease needed to start “talking to them,” basically pointing them to the roots of the issue. Eventually, as the patient’s symptoms emerged, they could pinpoint the disease and apply the proper medications.

It was a disease that was not curable but was treatable and manageable.

For many of us, we spent a good deal of our lives masking the symptoms of our hurts, hang-ups, and habits by self-medicating with alcohol, drugs, shopping, sex, anger, codependency, etc., and we couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Others tried to help us as well, but they didn’t understand either. Sometimes we tried other things that we thought would help, like relationships, careers, or material possessions. Yet, nothing worked.

When we decided to try out this program called Celebrate Recovery, we discovered the true Master Diagnostic Technician with the answers we could not find. As we began to allow Him to work in us through the Principles and Steps of recovery, He helped us to remove the “medications” that never helped but only served to mask the roots of our issues. As he worked in us to stop our coping mechanisms, addictions, and compulsions, he also allowed us to begin to see and understand our root issues.

Without our “medications,” the feelings, emotions, trauma, hurts, and hang-ups we had been avoiding came to the surface and began to “talk to us,” revealing how the disease of sin had impacted our lives, both the sins of others and our own sins. A disease that is not fully cured until we see Jesus face-to-face but is treatable and manageable in this life through the blood he shed.

As we began to pinpoint the roots of our issues, we were also able to apply the proper medications for our issues, which is our relationship with Jesus Christ and the tools of recovery we found in Celebrate Recovery.

As Jeremiah 17:7-8 indicates, as we trust the LORD in our process of healing and restoration through Celebrate Recovery, we dig up the diseased roots and replace them with healthy roots that bear healthy fruit. Praise Him!