PULPIT
PENPULPIT
PEN
A Sign of Hope
Psalm 55: 1,2,13,14 - Listen, O God. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught [for] my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship. (NIV)
The pine trees--seedlings--were left over from a church, summer festival sale. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving them to die so I took them home and, though it was not the right time to do so, I planted them--oh so hopefully--around the parsonage. But as summer progressed, the sun continued to shine unremittingly, there was next to no rain, and my plantlings, one by one, started to die. Then, one depressingly hot day, a colleague phoned and passed on some heartbreaking news about a close friend. The news took me aback. Literally, I had to catch my breath. And I felt a painful sense of loss, for I knew I would likely not see my friend again. My soul grieved, fond memories clustered for attention and, inevitably, my sleep suffered.
News of that kind--some call it "bad" news--has that sort effect on us. And for some, its effect can be even more deleterious. Unable to break the cycle of sad thoughts, the sense of loss, and disturbed sleep, we can sink even lower--sometimes into depression.
That night the rain fell--and it fell quite heavily. I smelled the miracle of moisture on parched soil the moment I awoke the following morning. And as I looked out my window I noticed that the last of the weakling pines had suddenly--overnight--acquired deep green hues to its growing tip and to the ends of its cracked branches. Prior to the rain it had looked deathly dry, now it looked refreshed and ready for new growth-life once again.
God had, I'm sure, allowed me to see that small, sun-burnt seedling become bud-green as a healing for my pain, for in that moment peace flowed through me, my sorrow faded, and my faith revitalized. I bowed my head and gave thanks, for I realized that God was working out His purposes in His own way and in His own time--in my life just as He had in my friend's.
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