God In All Things

John 11:25 – Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies." (NAS)

A gang of guys from church were doing a yard clean-up for an elderly lady in our congregation. In her front yard were some of those massive oak trees seen in the deep south — those that spread their branches hundreds of feet from the trunk. I was picking up a fallen branch, and noticed what I thought was moss. But this moss was different. It had tiny fronds. I asked the lady what this might be. Her face beamed as she smiled and replied, "That, my friend, is a resurrection fern."

"A resurrection fern?" I asked. "I never saw one before. Can you tell me about it?"

"Well," she replied, "The way you see it now, it has been blessed with enough water to keep it green. When dry times come, it shrivels and turns brown. From all outward appearances it looks dead. Let's see if we can find one that hasn't been so fortunate."

We looked about the broken branches, and, sure enough, we found a "dead" resurrection fern. The branch it was clinging to had fallen in a sunny place. Ferns, of course, like shade and moisture. She picked up the "dead" fern, and took it to an outside water facet and gave it a good drink. She told me to come back in an hour to see what happened.

I continued my chores, and later went back. True to her word, the tiny resurrection fern had sprung back to life. The fronds that once were brown and shriveled were now green and upright.

"Amazing," I thought. "How could this be? How could something 'dead' now be alive?" The impact of that little demonstration was enormous. For me, it was God's way of saying there truly is a resurrection in store for all of us who believe in Him. We shall have everlasting life and thirst no more.

John 4:10 – Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who showed us the way through parables and example. We also thank you for your infinite wisdom in providing us with mighty day-to-day examples in your creation. Amen.