Our society has been permeated by this pervasive sense of wanderlust. We have a difficult time being content in one spot for long. Moving, adventuring, roaming; we have restless hearts.
Yet, at the same time, we desperately crave roots.
Maybe it’s just me, but I highly doubt it. Even in the midst of a restless heart that longs to roam, I still desperately want roots. I want to feel like I’ve been planted somewhere, like there’s a sense of steadiness and security.
Tomorrow, I move to begin my Senior year of college. College is a difficult time, both for those who long to feel rooted and those who long to roam. You can never quite put down roots, but you’re trapped in a place with little room to roam as well.
These desires can seem contradictory, but I think that they only contradict each other if we seek to satisfy them on our own. When we try to appease them both, we only end up feeding one while quenching the other. We go back and forth; we’re not capable of roaming and being rooted all at once.
I honestly think that these desires all culminate in Christ; HE is the One who can satisfy them both.
In Him, we are so secure, so rooted in place, that physical steadiness or hometown roots could never even begin to compare. We are never shaken, we are never alone. We have a steady and consistent Savior who holds us firmly in place.
Colossians 2:7 (NLT) states,
“Let your roots grow down into him [Christ], and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
In the same way, just as we are rooted in Christ and our lives can be firmly built upon Him, never will our longing for adventure, our longing to roam be so deeply satisfied as it will be in life with Christ. Augustine once said, “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.”
Living life for Jesus is anything but boring; it is an adventure. He will call you to places you’ve never been, to do things you’ve never done. He will instill within you a courageous heart and a brave mind. John 10:10 proclaims,
“The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy; I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full.”
If you’re longing for roots or desiring to roam, it’s okay to seek that in your life, but know that Jesus satisfies. If you think that desiring both is a contradiction, know that Jesus can bring both to fruition and meet your desires to the very fullest.
We have been given such desires to send us running to Jesus. Seek His face; he satisfies completely.
KELVEY OLIVIA VANDER HART 