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Standing very tall in my front yard is a deep green, glorious willow tree, majestic in her fullness, yet wonderfully graceful as each gentle breeze invites her branches to dance.

To look at this tree, you’d assume steadfast maturity as it appears so strong, so immovable.

But as its owner, I know this tree. I know that soon winter, with its strong winds and ground-soaking rains, will threaten its survival. Because it is so well watered, the root base is shallow, going just below the surface as it never had to search for water. So when storms come upon it quickly, there is no deep foundation, and this seemingly strong, mature tree is at the mercy of the wind.

This example of God’s design and creation is used often in His Word: being firmly planted, grounded and steadfast in Him so that when the storms quickly come (and they will) we are unmoved (Colossians 2:7).

As women, we are also God’s design, uniquely and wonderfully created. We are often the needed emotional response to any situation, more so than men. We are the compassionate, the sensitive, and the gentle, caring hands of the body. But we can also be easily affected and swayed, even uprooted as each wind blows our way.

There are indeed those hard, gut-wrenching, ground-shaking hurricanes that knock us off our feet and we have seen that God is always faithful. He holds us close as we depend upon and call out to Him, often with a deeper understanding of who He is.

But what about the more common wind? The unexpected, hurtful words of a friend. The gossip at our expense. The betrayal. Or those murmured misunderstandings that, no matter how hard we try to squelch them, just continue to cause us pain?

These strange winds blow an opportunity to either remind us who we are in Christ, or to be toppled over with hurt feelings, emotional responses, or defeat.

In Acts 28, we see a very windblown and shipwrecked Paul, warming himself by a fire when an unexpected viper jumps out, biting his hand. (Ouch!) In the confidence of one who knows who he is in Christ, he shakes it off, back into the fire where it came from.

With each blowing wind that comes our way, each smack of betrayal and unkind word, we face the opportunity to either stand in Christ, sinking our roots deep in His truth, or to be violently swayed back and forth, driven by our emotions. We can choose to remember that we are loved by our Creator, daughter of the King, set apart for His good works, and greatly treasured in His eyes. We are His beloved.

You may never fully please your fellow man, but you already stand righteous in God’s presence through the shed blood of Christ. Sink your roots deep into that when these strange winds blow. God Himself could not love you more than He does right now, despite what anyone else says.

May you be found centered in Him today, rooted in deep soil against every wind that blows, so that when the hurricanes come, you will be unmoved.