Sabbath: The Roots of Restlessness
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Matthew 10:34-39, Luke 12:13-21, Philippians 2:5-8, Luke 22:14-30, Matthew 23:1-13.
Memory Text: “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:16).
Aspens are beautiful trees, reaching 45-90 feet (15-30 meters) in height. They thrive in cold climates with cool summers. Their wood is used in furniture and also for making matches and paper. Deer and other animals often feed on young aspen trees during hard winters as their bark contains many nutrients. Aspens need lots of sunshine, and they grow all the time — even in winter, making them important winter food sources for different animals.
Aspens, however, are most notorious for the fact that they have one of the largest root systems in the plant world. The roots spread by underground suckers and form a colony that can spread relatively quickly, covering large areas. Individual aspen trees can live up to 150 years, but the larger organism below the ground can live for thousands of years.
In this week’s study, we want to discover some of the roots of our restlessness. There are many things that can prevent us from finding true rest in Jesus. Some of these are obvious and don’t require much attention. Others may be less obvious to us and, as with to the huge aspen organism unseen beneath the ground, we may not always be conscious of the attitudes and actions that separate us from our Savior.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 17.
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Many years ago when both Carmel and I were much younger, Carmel kept getting sick. She was fit and healthy most of the time but then she would get abdominal cramps and end up rolling on the floor in agony. She went to a teacher's conference a long way from home and the next thing she was back home, much earlier than expected (we did not have cell phones in those days) She had been taken to a hospital near the conference, because she was in so much pain. They ruled out appendicitis and sent her back to the conference. Then someone drove her back home. A couple of months later she had an episode at home and her local doctor put her in hospital and again they could find nothing wrong with her. I remember despairing at the time, thinking that she was about to die and our young children would be without a mother. Her whole abdomen would spasm and she would cry out in pain. It was agonising and frustrating for the whole family.
I was working on my honours degree at the time and I remember that I decided that I would give up my study to look after Carmel. That particular day I had to take my daughter to her first flute lesson at the Music conservatorium. So I took my daughter, Toni, went to the university to apply for leave of absence from my studies, and then went to the conservatorium to deliver our daughter for her lesson. The teacher came out to greet Toni and his first words were, "I have a message for you; Carmel has collapsed at school and had been taken to hospital by one of the teachers!"
We drove over to the hospital and Carmel was being prepared for surgery. The staff who were prepping her were not able to tell me anything except that the surgeon would talk to me after the operation.
After the operation, the surgeon told me what had happened. He was well aware of Carmel's case and between hospital visits he had consulted with Carmel's gynecologist/obstetrician. Between them they thought Carmel's problem was an endometriosis problem (Carmel had had a full hysterectomy several years earlier). Sure enough, the surgeon found a lump of endometriosis tissue growing on her small intestine, the root of all her sickness for the last 6 months. They removed ithe lump; Carmel recovered and went on to live a happy and trouble free life.
She would never have been cured if they had not found that small lump of tissue growing on her intestine.
This week we look at the root of the restlessness problem. Is it possible that we are looking at the symptoms of restlessness and not getting to the root cause of the problem?
Very well summarized Maurice. I always appreciate the personal touch you add to the lessons for illustration.
I like the analogy of the Aspen tree root system. At work when something goes awry in a bad way, we will conduct a "root cause analysis". We have to get down to the micro level to figure out the cause of the problem. This will be a hard but beneficial week for me because it will require me to be vulnerable. I will have to willingly allow God to tell me what he sees wrong so he can fix it. This isn't a surprise to me because God illustrated sin in my life as the root system of weeds. If you want the weeds to go away, you have got to pull out ALL the roots otherwise the weed will continue to grow. So with sin, I have to go through the process of allowing God to pull the sin out by the roots. Not just clip it off at ground level.
Yes Myron, and many weeds have roots that are very difficult to remove fully. In our community garden, there is a plant that someone brought from another country. This plant has become invasive, spreading through several plots in just a couple years, and choking out the desirable plants. This is exactly how sin works if not uprooted early. It spreads in hidden places in our hearts till it seems impossible to remove. I pray that God will use these lessons to show us what pernicious sins we must uproot in our own lives.
I am looking forward with great anticipation to learn more about ‘The Roots of Restlessness’. Accepting God’s gift of Christ’s Faith calls for great joy, and Christ has talked about it at length - John15:1-27KJV. It is part of the Fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and in Rom.12:12 we are admonished to “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
We are now branches of the True Vine; we cannot come any closer to the Father than that – what a glorious ‘rootedness’!
I pray, God help us to know how essential your roots of Truth and Life are to our lives, free us from dread and insecurities and open in us the treasures of your Joy!
James 3:16KJV makes an interesting point in relation to ‘roots of restlessness’. Personally, I have always found the greatest challenge to ‘loving’ someone is when a person displays selfish ambitions, jealously protecting ‘their turf’.
Using the Aspen’s root system as a metaphor to what is going on under the surface of such an ambitious person’s life is quite interesting. I certainly can see the resemblance to how 'invasive/intrusive' the reach of that person’s ambitions can be on the life of others.
I think that ‘Roots of Restlessness’ are a sign that one does not yet understand, or does not want to accepted the Authority of God in their life.
The lesson includes Matt.23:1-13KJV - Christ warns of the behavior of the Pharisees who sit in Moses’ seat. In v.3, He points out that God’s Truth remains Truth even when spoken by hypocrites. And Matt.23:13 points out the far-reaching influence of their position - ”But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
I pray that through the study of the Word of God the roots of the Faith of Christ will be watered to grow ever deeper - 2Tim.2:15KJV.
Nice description of the aspen grove habitat, and who doesn't enjoy a nice view of aspens in the fall back-lit by the afternoon (or morning) sun? As for the root(s) of the restlessness that keeps the soul from Rest in Christ, I have learned that unbelief will surely result in this unrest. So then, what are the root-causes of unbelief, since unbelief is a conscious decision/choice?
I worked as a helper of a couple. Their 2 grand kids often visit them,ages 6 & 2 yrs old. On summer time the couple, bought a large plastic swimming pool, around 5-meter in diameter. It was assembled just in a plain ground under the trees. Before putting the plastic swimming pool, a large plastic carpet first laid down. The kids are so happy playing every day in a water. But during winter seasons it was ignored. After the winter, it was found that the pool can't no longer be used, because it has a lot of small holes created by a kind of grass coming from the ground. I was amazed these kind of grass from the ground soil, pass thru the plastic carpet, and to the swimming pool, it cannot be repaired because of holes, it's useless now.
How I relate to our lesson for this week? Sin is always there, around us. Sometimes we ignore it, that it's nothing for us, we don't entertain it , it seems we are protected of our own belief. But maybe little by little sin comes to our heart that turns to our actions. Having with Jesus in our hearts in everyday we live are strong enough to stop the sin arounds us. We should not rely in our own shield but, let us go live with the heart if Jesus. No matter a kind of grass can penetrate us, if we take a faithful heart from the Lord Jesus. Even in summer or winter seasons our actions must go on along, don't let it to stop, Jesus live into us daily 24/7. Stop sin, go to Christ Jesus, win our neighbors.
Thank you all for your illustrative and insightful comments. The root cause of restless, as per the memory verse, is jealousy and selfish ambition. Lets all of us look forward look forward to identifying the jealousy, selfish ambitious, and any other roots in our lives that are causing us restlessness.