I came across this beautiful story today about a monk called Brother  Lawrence (formerly Nicholas Herman) who lived in the 1600s. It is an account of how he was set on a spiritual journey towards God…

In the deep of winter, Herman looked at a barren tree, stripped of leaves and fruit, waiting silently and patiently for the sure hope of summer abundance. Gazing at the tree, Herman grasped for the first time the extravagance of God’s grace and the unfailing sovereignty of divine providence. Like the tree, he himself was seemingly dead, but God had life waiting for him, and the turn of seasons would bring fullness. At that moment, he said, that leafless tree “first flashed in upon my soul the fact of God,” and a love for God that never after ceased to burn.*

I thought about the way that we can face times when we feel stripped, and our lives seem barren. When things seem stark, and we are laid bare. But what a beautiful picture of hope this story gives. That with God, there is the promise of changing seasons and newness ahead.

That if we will wait for Him, “silently and patiently” and confident in His grace and “unfailing sovereignty,” we have the “sure hope of summer abundance” to look forward to.

*reference: ‘Brother Lawrence’ on Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence 

~ by Birgit on October 14, 2007.

Posted in Christianity, Devotional, Jesus