FIRMLY PLANTED

Amos 9:15 “I will firmly plant them there in the land I have given them.”

I was recently watching a football game that was taking place in Chicago. There is a reason they call Chicago “The Windy City”. As the visiting team was preparing to kick off, the kicker placed the football on the kicking tee just the way he wanted, and then he turned his back to the ball and began walking back to his teammates. Within seconds, the home crowd applauded as the ball fell off the tee due to strong wind gusts. He put the ball back on the tee and turned around. It blew off again. This went on a couple more times and, with each time, the roars from the crowd grew louder and louder. Finally, the kicker summoned a teammate to come and physically hold the ball in place so that the game could resume.

I wonder if sometimes life kinda feels that way. Have you ever had your best laid plan fall apart due to an unexpected circumstance? I have, from time to time, felt like that frustrated kicker. Setting my plans, striving for my goals, working to make things happen. Only to have life bring up some “wind gust” and just blow it over. Much like the kicker, we must find the solution to accomplishing our task.

For believers, the solution lies in the hands of the one who fashioned our destiny from the beginning. According to Amos, God promises to “firmly” plant us into our destiny. The firmly, in this case, is an adjective which means “not likely to change; fixed; settled; unalterable”. God plants us within the framework of the promises He has given us and the destiny that is specifically ours. He does not lay us there. He does not cast us there. He does not flippantly point us in the direction. He firmly plants us there.

God’s promises are so sure for our lives that he places us so firmly that circumstances, in and of themselves, cannot move us. Just as the kicker had to summon another player to hold the ball, we must muster up our faith to hold us in place where we have been firmly planted by God. When the football tumbled over, the kicker could not say, “I’m not going to kick until the wind stops blowing” or “Can we move to another city?” or “I’ll just kick in another direction”. He found away to keep the ball steady.

Life may sometimes have a way of causing even God’s plans to look unsure to us. Trouble may come and the outcome may seem uncertain, but God is sure and He desires to place you firmly where you need to be. The next time the “wind blows” in your life, don’t pick up your ball and go home. Don’t doubt or fear. Don’t complain and grumble about the situation. Remember the promises of God. He gave them to you. In fact, he firmly planted you in a position to receive everything you’ve needed.