Did you know scientists discovered plant roots feel their way around in the darkness, burrowing through the soil similar to how a person gropes around in the dark? When the root of a plant encounters an obstacle such as a rock, the root will work around the rock just as we would work our way around our living room during a power outage.

I spent most of my life groping around in the darkness.

I did not realize I was lost and in the dark. I was doing the best I could with what I knew, but looking back, I realize I was blind to how the root of fear and unbelief covered my life inside and out.

I believe emotional needs are dismissed in the Christian journey. There is an understanding it is best to ignore our emotions because emotions will lead us astray. Blindly trusting our emotions will lead us astray, and I am not advocating this course of action. However, without attention to the underlying roots of our thoughts, feelings, and actions, we will continue to live from the same places of defeat. We will stay blind, either by blindly trusting our emotions or ignoring them altogether.

Our emotions work and shape our behavior, whether we want them to or not. For example, the way we draw from the time we are in God’s Word will have to do with our deepest beliefs about God and ourselves.

When a root in the soil encounters an obstacle such as a rock, the root will work around the rock. This is what we do too. We may believe we have God as our foundation, but the real foundation we may be standing on is fear and areas of unbelief. We only discover our true foundation when we are intentional and honest with God.

Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Psalm 31:3 “For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;”

Isaiah 26:4 “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”

The key to growth is facing the reality of the root of our whys with God. We state the truth of our whys, we share them with God in prayer, and we keep coming back to the attributes of God, the character of Christ, and who we are becoming in him. To heal, we let God unearth the lies of our whys. Otherwise, we will keep living the same patterns out of unbelief and fear.