Hello ,

Roots do not grow in sunlight.

They grow in darkness.

That’s uncomfortable for us, because we prefer visible progress. We like clarity, affirmation, forward motion. But much of what God does in a believer’s life happens beneath the surface — in seasons that feel hidden, confusing, or even painful.

Job said, “Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him… But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:8–10).

Job couldn’t see God. 

But God could see Job.

That is the difference.

Isaiah speaks of the faithful as “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3). 

Trees of righteousness don’t grow overnight. They are planted intentionally. And planting requires burial before it produces life.

In 2010, thirty-three miners were trapped underground in Chile when a mine collapsed. For sixty-nine days they lived in darkness nearly half a mile beneath the surface. The world could not see them. But engineers above ground were drilling, planning, working. When rescue finally came, the men emerged changed — thinner, sobered, deeply aware of what mattered most.

While they were unseen, they were not forgotten.

Darkness does not mean abandonment. Sometimes it is formation.

In the Christian life, God allows seasons where the applause fades, the answers delay, and the way forward is unclear. It is there — in the dark — that trust deepens. Prayer becomes less about performance and more about dependence. Scripture becomes bread instead of decoration.

Roots grow strongest when they must search for water.

If everything in your life feels bright and easy, you may be enjoying fruit. If everything feels quiet and underground, you may be growing roots.

Do not despise that season.

The Great Controversy between good and evil is real, and we do not see every layer of what is unfolding around us. But we do know this: the God who plants also sustains. He is not careless with what He buries.

You may feel hidden.
You may feel stretched.
You may feel unseen.

But roots are forming.

And when the season changes — and it will — what grew in the dark will hold you steady in the light.

Musical Reflection: Nearer My God to Thee

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word