A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted (Proverbs 12:3).

My grandfather-in-law, my "Grandpa Hettinger," has been working the land for his entire life.  Even today, at the age of 93, he maintains a field of corn and regularly thins out the forests on his land, chopping and stacking wood day after day.  So when Grandpa Hettinger has something to say about farming or forestry, I listen.

One day, sitting at the dining room table after a Sunday midday feast, Grandpa Hettinger started talking to me about trees and storms.  "Did you know," he asked, "that a tree must have wind and storms in order to develop an adequate root system?"  He went on to tell me that some scientists had been growing trees on the inside of a large greenhouse or biosphere or something like that -- "But if that tree were to be suddenly transplanted outside, it would fall over with the first puff of wind."  Apparently, the trees depend on wind and storms to knock out its less-than-fully-healthy branches and to offer resistance which compel the tree to develop its underground root system deeper and broader.  If such trees are raised in an artificial environment, these things do not happen -- and the trees are ultimately much weaker than if they are given an opportunity to grow in a "harsh" environment.  I thought that it was a fascinating story, but Grandpa Hettinger took it a step further to turn the story of the wind-strengthened tree into a parable about embracing adversity and developing character, like it talks about in Romans 5:2-4:  "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."  Honestly, I don't know why Grandpa Hettinger taught me that particular lesson in that particular moment (it wasn't that I was going through any particular struggle at the time, as far as I can remember) -- but that lesson has stuck with me, and it's brought back into my mind when I read Proverbs 12:3, where it speaks of the fact that the righteous cannot be uprooted.

Basically, Grandpa Hettinger's story, the passage from Romans 5, and this particular Proverb all allude to the same truth:  There is no short-cut to success, no secret "back-door" to character.

A man cannot be established through wickedness.  Scheming, trickery, short-cuts, or any other form of wickedness may have the appearance of promoting success, at times.  But the truth is that it doesn't work.  When the storms of life come along, they are easily toppled.  The only way to truly withstand the storms of life is to consistently make wise, godly choices over the course of years -- even when those choices are difficult or uncomfortable.  When character is developed over time, righteousness develops along with it.  And even when the wind blows and the storms rage, the righteous cannot be uprooted.