“You know that there is a good chance that you killed our hydrangea bushes, right? You aren’t supposed to cut them back until the spring!” That was not the response that I expected or wanted to hear from my husband! I absolutely love these bushes and the last thing I wanted to think was that I had possibly killed them!
During the right season, these bushes probably come close to 6 feet tall, and they are absolutely beautiful! But after we had a few cold snaps in the fall, they were done! The once lush, vibrant green bushes were now brown, leafless limbs. Some had even lost their form and were now bent over, sagging to the ground. They looked awful and I just had to cut them back. After I realized that I had jumped ahead on my pruning, I just stood there looking at the short, brown stubs that remained- hoping and praying that there was life still left in them.
A couple of years ago, my husband was traveling for his job, and one of the places he was sent to work experienced several tornadoes and straight line winds within a short period of time. Before the city could get back to its’ feet and recover from one destructive storm, another one was well on its way, adding to the damage. I remember us driving around town after the first storm, and seeing some trees completely pulled up from the ground, while others had just the tops completely lopped off, trunk and roots still intact. So many bushes and trees had received an untimely and vicious pruning. The place looked dead and as we looked around at what remained, you just prayed that life was still left within them. As I looked around this city and its’ devastating destruction, I felt like I was looking at an outward depiction of an inward storm I was experiencing within my own heart and mind.
I too was experiencing a relentless and destructive storm that left me feeling like all hope was lost, and I began wondering if there was still life left in me.
Looking at the short, brown stubs of my hydrangea bushes sent my mind back to this time and place of my life. Storms have a way of making us feel that we just are brown, withered, done, and dead. After the constant wear and tear they continue to bring, you begin finding yourself hoping and praying that there is still life left within, that there is still hope.
Just yesterday, I was highly encouraged when I saw little green buds sprouting up all over the short brown stubs of my hydrangeas. Although it is winter, and a harsh cold snap will probably put an end to the growth, I was able to see the proof, months later, that YES there is, in fact, still life left in both of these bushes! I rejoiced when I saw the evidences of life, and I ran to share this exciting discovery with my husband.
Just like that my hydrangea bushes still have life in them, I too discovered, in the middle of my storm, that there was still life in me. I discovered that there was life left because Jesus had not left! The surpassing power of God was at work within me, and though the storm was great and proved destructive, it could not and did not stop the life giving work that God was producing within me. During this time of my life, I experienced that the power of God was much greater, the peace of God was my constant guard, the word of God is alive and active, and I learned the deep, great, unending love of a Father!
Today, I encourage you to look to God in the midst of your storm! He is the giver of life, the giver of hope, the giver of peace, and the giver of joy! You may find yourself wondering if there is still life left within, and with God at work within you, the answer is always YES! In the middle of your storm, don’t lose hope! Be on the lookout for the evidences of the Living Hope that is steadily at work within you, because the evidences are sure to come!
There is a good work going on inside you that God is doing for those within His grasp, a working that is occurring even before your eyes are able to see! God never fails and He will not fail with you either! You are in His grasp, by His grace, for His glory!
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We ALWAYS carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” 1 Corinthians 4:7-10
Highlighting the hope that we have in Christ! 