Where the Roots Run Deep learning to trust that God is still working beneath the surface By: Amanda Popp
Published May 21, 2026
Freedom. Fire. Erupting from the ground…something is happening right under the soil. Something is about to happen, but who knows why, what, or how! It sounds like I am describing a volcano, doesn’t it? I am not, though. I am describing my heart. Words the Lord has given me recently and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with them. Along with words, He has given me Scripture. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Nothing is wasted. Then a verse that I can never remember hearing until a few days ago—Isaiah 45:3: Treasures come from DARK PLACES Riches from SECRET PLACES. Freedom, strength from joy, nothing is wasted and treasures and riches from places that don’t seem to make sense. There was no specific verse for fire—but there was a worship song I had never heard before with the title of “Fire”. I meditate on those things and wonder “Lord, what the heck am I supposed to do with this? None of this makes sense to me. HELP!?” Enter in a woman named Amy. Amy who knows only my word to describe myself as a wildflower was “erupting”. She came up to me and said words that I not only heard, but experienced with my entire soul as she spoke them to me: “I saw you as the chicory flower. They are one of my favorites that grow along the country road I walk on. The beauty of them is amazing! Even after being mowed down they will flower at only 2” tall when their normal hight is about 2 feet. They are not only beautiful and resilient but their roots are roasted and used as a coffee replacement. That even though you have been mowed down you still bloom and bring pleasure to those around you. That what you have brought to people they are still flourishing on. But it’s your roots. What you have to offer and have offered to people goes deep. That sometimes they haven’t seen what you have to offer as beneficial because it’s the root not the flower. It’s hidden and requires extra effort. But also the root is still available in the cold dark seasons. Even when you thought you were not of benefit to people you were and still are. I am seeing now that the root is bitter until it is roasted and refined. Some people may have reacted that way to you. But what they need to do is take your words actions and deeds before the Lord so they can be refined by Him for their own use. I’m sensing you are a relationship builder. That the Lord wants you to continue to do what he has called you to do. He is holding your hand as you grab hold of another’s hand. And when you all are ready you step out of the strand and the person or people are holding Jesus hand. Then you and he go off to what ever is next.” I stared at her with tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my arms and simply said “thank you. You have no idea. Thank you.” Then I found myself doing something FAR out of my character—I asked if I could hug her! I needed to understand more, though. I don’t like mystery about myself—I wanted to know why chicory. I looked it up. A strong sturdy flower describes chicory. It can be cut down over and over again, but will continue to ERUPT out of the ground because of the root system sustaining it. Chicory doesn’t typically grow in “undisturbed” areas. Those words caught my attention immediately. I don’t usually walk into peaceful, untouched spaces and stir things up. I often find myself in the midst of what is already disturbed. When something is off, broken or unsettled. Not to create chaos, but to bring truth. To say what needs to be said. To stand when it would be so much easier to stay quiet. That prophetic pull—definitely not comfortable and not always recieved well, but rooted in deep obedience. The flower is prepared to bloom…even at the risk of being mowed over. Chicory grows along roadsides, railroads, waste ground and poorly maintained places. Places that could be described as ugly. I see the chicory showing up in the ugly to bring color. God bringing color into places that feel drab and forgotten. Beauty showing up where it was least expected.That blue chicory flower you see? It blooms for ONE day. Just one. Opens in the morning and closes by the afternoon. The plant produces new blooms daily—for weeks. Ensuring a constant display of beautiful blue blooms. I realized—this is me! I will show up. I will bloom—say the thing, do the thing, be obedient in whatever God has called me to. And when that blooming moment is done? So am I. Until the next bloom. With the prophet gifting, I have words to share and things to complete—I am determined to do them. At the same time, I know I run the risk of being mowed on over. Of being ignored. Misunderstood. Despite the mowing and ignoring, because of the deep root system that exists in every season I find myself in, I can be used. I can and will bloom despite the things against me. I can erupt and bloom two inches off the ground or at the five feet full height potential. At the end of the day—the bloom—the word—it IS there and shared. The color of the flower, the beauty of the message is shared—despite the mowing over. When the flowers are not blooming, the root system many feet into the ground remains. The root is hidden but always available. It is available in the seasons of blooming springs and summers…and available in the darkness of fall and winter. The root left alone is bitter. The root roasted and refined, though? It becomes something sustaining. Something that can be pleasant to take in. Sweet. It reminds me that sometimes people might react to my words with a bitter taste in their mouth. Bitter because they haven’t taken the time to refine them with the Lord. When they take that time to do that? It becomes sweet. Maybe not everything I carry is meant to be received instantly as sweet. Maybe it needs to be taken before the Lord—processed and refined before it becomes nourishment to someone. This doesn’t make the words wrong, it means they run deeper than the surface. In the seasons that I struggle to think I have anything to offer—the roots have remained. They were still working. Reaching. Sustaining. Alive in the dark places. I suppose I was never a volcano at all. I’m a wildflower called Chicory—where the roots run deeper than what has erupted on top of the ground. Erupting does not always mean or bring destruction—it’s growth breaking through the surface. The dark places, the secret places…they haven’t ever been empty at all. They were where the roots were growing the entire time. Reflection: Is there a dark and secret place in your life right now where you feel mowed over? Have you considered that this might be space where your roots are growing deeper? Could God be doing something beneath the surface? Is there something you feel prompted to say or stand for? What does that obedience look like, even if it’s uncomfortable? In the seasons where you feel like you have nothing to offer—what truths are still anchoring you? What do you remain rooted in, even when everything else feels stripped away? Where have you seen or lived beauty show up in unexpected places in your life? How could God be using you to share that same beauty with others? How would it change you to truly believe that nothing in your life is wasted— even in THIS season? You may not see what God is growing—but it doesn’t mean God isn’t working.
