There’s a little ash tree in our backyard that I planted a few years ago. Every year it seems to be a late bloomer. Of course, in Houston anything that hasn’t leafed out by the end of March is a late-bloomer.
As of last week, the tree was still bare of leaves. I was convinced that it had died. It certainly looked dead, and it showed no signs of life; no greening, no budding, nothing.
Yesterday Jill mentioned to me that she had seen a leaf on the tree. Incredulous, I went to take a look and found that the little tree is indeed alive, and will burst forth with leaves soon! Just since yesterday several more have sprouted.
This reminded me of something: there are people I know who are far away from God right now, or who are drifting away. Some have been on my heart and prayers a lot recently, because they were once so full of life, and now they appear dead. It’s hard to see that. It hurts.
But appearances can be deceiving, and not every dry, brittle tree devoid of leaves is dead. Some of them have life, ready to burst, just underneath the surface.
And even if dead, they can be raised. Jesus can do anything!
Speaking of new growth – remind me to ask you about a certain guy who served with us in ministry that you might have kept up with when we hang out later on . . .
Will do
There have been a few I’ve tried to keep up with (well, feebly tried – could have done way better) and haven’t had much luck.
I’ve got some questions too about a few individuals as well.
Odd…I have two green ash saplings on the west side, and one was in full leaf. The other had some green growth coming out at the bottom, but the top was bare…I thought it was dead, but just started budding as well. My sycamores, on the other hand….wow.
And the real point was thought-provoking as well…