LESSONS FROM AN ORCHID - by Pastor Susan Fochler

I have several orchids that sit in front of a window in our living room.  While looking at them recently, God started speaking to me about their roots.  You see, they have two kinds of roots, the primary ones that grow down into the pot and provide most of the water and nutrition, and others that grow out horizontally into the air, hence called “air roots”. These air roots are kind of ugly and gnarly, but do provide a small portion of the moisture the plant needs.  We are like those orchids.  As believers, we draw our identity, primarily, from the heart of God as we grow in knowing who we really are as beloved sons or daughters in our union with Him.  But, because we are born into the world’s broken system, surrounded with messages of scarcity and legalism, we use self-effort to grow our own “air roots” into those things we think we need to protect, comfort and justify ourselves independent of the love of God.  These aren’t necessarily bad things, like our possessions, jobs, ministries, giftings, etc., they just were never designed to be the primary source of our identity.  We seek them because we have a hard time believing God can really love us as completely and unconditionally as He says He does, without us doing a thing to prove our worth.  It has been an ongoing journey for me to learn to love and accept myself.  At times I can feel a pressure to prove something to somebody, somewhere, and, of course, that something is never enough, because I would be trying to prove it to a false system.  The truth is, all I need do is accept the “endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding” and that “pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!”  (Eph 3:17, 20 TPT.)  What would it look like if we really believed this was true! How do we come to know this love?  By allowing His compassion to touch every hurting place, and being curious to understand why we react in ways that aren’t consistent with who we really are.  Instead of choosing to reject and condemn ourselves, we start accepting that we are His choice, and that we are worth loving.  And that we can continue to let go of all those self-created attachments we have made with the world that produce a false sense of self.   As we do so, we are the Prodigal son walking into the outstretched arms of a loving Father, recognizing there is nothing we need do to cause Him to love us more than He does at this moment.  And knowing and accepting that is exactly what heals our heart. May we all come to know we are holy and without blame before Him in love.  Eph 1:4 NKJV. With love; Susan