Finding Hope After the Storm

Just a few days ago, Sheila and I decided to go see the azaleas at the Arboretum. We are privileged here in this area to be the repository for native azaleas, which are housed on the campus there. I’m not a huge plant guy, but they’re growing on me ;) My main interest was probably being outside. So we invited Sheila’s parents, and we headed out. Now, getting to the site is a bit of a trek, but not too bad. Along the way, you get to enjoy a variety of plant species growing around, the greetings of others on the trail, and, of course, a dog or two. When you’re nearly to where the azaleas are located, you come along a little river that flows through the area. It’s a pleasant time if it’s not too hot. But for the other times I’d been, this one was a bit different—that’s because of the effects of Hurricane Helene.

As anyone who lives here knows, there are still effects all around the region. And, where things have been cleaned up, there are usually still a few downed trees and washed away gravel paths. This was true at the arboretum as well. It’s clear they’ve done a lot of cleanup, and on top of that, the azaleas looked great too, with many in bloom. However, on the way back, I noticed a unique feature from the storm.

Along the riverbank, there was a tree that had been pushed down into the river, from what looked like Helene’s effects. Its trunk was tilted downward, causing the tree itself to be in the water. Part of the tree looked like it was dead, with no new spring blooms. But, part of it had new leaves and flowers too. It had clearly been jerked around by the storm and made worse for wear, but it was also trying to survive, taking in the full sunshine with less canopy above and drinking in the river where it found itself.

Sometimes in our lives, hurricanes blow in a variety of ways. When they are gone, we might be emotionally scarred. We might have our physical lives rearranged. We might mentally be wounded. Yet, if we know Christ, we seek to go on and we seek to survive, like that tree. Why? Because we are reminded in 2 Corinthians 4:17 that, “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” We pray in troubles that God might turn them around and make good of them, and he often does when we lean into them and allow them to push us to seek him. From this, we grow in faith, grow in strength, and keep surviving.

I don’t know what troubles you might be facing, but I know he has good for you on the other side of it, which you’ll find if you seek him. So find him with us here this month in worship, Sunday school, and elsewhere– take a look at what’s going on and grow with us.

See you then,

William