Broken but still alive
I was walking along a wooded path at a retreat area. I was meant to be contemplative and allowing God to speak to me through His Creation. I was surrounded by a beautiful palate of colors with magnificent browns and greens. A creek babbled nearby as the path wove back and forth its banks at various points with a variety of different kinds of bridges. As I continued along wondering what it was the Lord might want to communicate to me on this delightful saunter, I came to an area where a tall bank of earth rose to my right.
On the top of the bank above me stood majestically tall trees with portions of their root systems exposed in the bank next to me. And then I began to see several of these majestic giants that had fallen and were now broken, dead trees. I thought of my own brokenness which seemed almost unfixable, unredeemable in that moment. Brokenness both physically and spiritually. A cry began to rise from my heart to God, “But can’t there be a tree that is broken but still alive?” As this question shot from my spirit to the Father with great distress, I began to urgently search for just such a tree.
Finally, having not yet found such a tree; broken but still alive, I found a bench by the side of the path and took a seat. As I sat with a sigh I looked up and there it was in front of me. A HUGE tree broken in half but still with beautiful emerald green moss growing on the bottom half and a few small limbs with leaves growing from the top half as if in revolt to its broken reality. The top half of the tree lie snapped, barely connected on the ground next to the base of the tree and yet it was brimming with life. My hearted surged with HOPE! Brokenness and life are possible at the same time! I thanked the Lord for answering my question through His creation.
By Jessica McFalls, All Nations Cape Town member
This is an excerpt from an article originally posted on All Nations International’s Encounter Blog. For the complete post (including the quote below), click here.
