Resiliency

A couple of months ago, I went plant shopping.

With the rising cost of groceries, I am looking for all sorts of ways to supplement our food supply, and on this particular trip, I purchased a couple of blackberry bushes.  My wife makes excellent blackberry jelly, and with three kids who like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...the cost savings can be phenomenal!  (Well, not really, but every little bit helps.)

I planted the two bushes I managed to purchase (I'll probably add three to four more in due time), and everything was going swimmingly for a week.  Despite the intense heat and drought conditions, the plants were doing fine.  Then, I went out one morning and noticed one of the plants beginning to wither. 

"Uh oh,"  I thought.  There goes $8. Wonder what happened.  Was there something wrong with the soil?  Had a neighborhood dog done some damage?  I walked closer to the plant.  The mole trail told the story.

I won't repeat what I said then, but I bent down and examined the plant.  Roughly 95% of the plant's root system had been eaten.  Could the plant come back?

Being the tight fisted German that I am and not wanting that $8 to go down the toilet, I began working to save the plant.  Extra soil supplements started immediately.  Medina Hasta Grow on a regular basis.  Daily watering.

The plant continued to wither.  The leaves all turned brown.  But every time I examined the plant, there was still a little bit of green extending from the bottom toward the top.  The stem at the top was still flexible.  It was hanging on.  Barely.  But it was hanging on.

Yesterday, I went out to examine the plant once again.  I smiled.  At the very bottom, new growth was springing forth.  And toward the top, buds were appearing.  Baring a horrible freeze this winter or another mole attack, the blackberry bush is going to make it.  It's a resilient little booger, to say the least.

It is my firm belief that those of us who are Christians can learn a lesson from such examples of resiliency.  Oftentimes, our roots get attacked as we go through life.  Sometimes they get devoured.  It seems like our faith is withering away down to nothing.  Events zap our sources of nourishment and lead us down some dark paths.

But usually, there is a little bit of root left, and it is God who goes to work then.  He fertilizes and waters and nourishes.  He checks on us on a regular basis.  He doesn't want to see our faith die.  Now, He doesn't just do this through the prayers of the saints, but each time a friend or family member checks on us...God is working.  Every time a pastor calls and offers his or her support...God is working.  Every time a small breakthrough happens...God is working.  He doesn't quit until the root is reestablished and the plant begins to grow once again.

God never gives up on us.  Through those tough times, we need to remember that.  We need to grasp the hope that He is ever active and never ceases His work.  Remembering this will hopefully make us like that blackberry bush: resilient.