Beauty From Lifeless Wood ~ Christ’s Resurrection Power

Crepe myrtle in my back yard

Beauty sprouts from wood
Life erupting
Resembling the cross

Crepe myrtles breathe life into summer in a way few other flowering shrubs or trees do.  Their colorful blossoms appear suddenly and linger long, even in the driest of conditions.

What I have always found interesting is how dead they look all winter.  Where I live, pruning is best done in February, leaving myrtles looking pitifully bare and scraggly most of their dormant season.  Only when the spring warms them do they sprout their leaves and send out buds in preparation for their showy display all summer.  The flowering branches seem to erupt out of lifeless wood.  Even the trunk comes alive with color.

As such, the process of their beauty springing forth from dormancy reminds me of the cross.  Its wood held the dying body of Christ, but was the conduit for ushering Him back to life.  The glory of His resurrection was not possible without the life-ending narrative on a wooden cross.  Life that gloriously erupted from the tomb was first crucified on dry, splintering wood.

This brings hope to anyone discouraged.

Crepe myrtle sampler

Life’s problems can overwhelm to the point of despair, shattering all hope.  At our lowest, it can seem that the promises of God have lain dormant for so long that they are like lifeless impossibilities.

However, God is always right there to breathe resurrection life back into any situation, no matter how desperate.  We who are in Christ have the same Spirit dwelling in us that raised Him from the dead.   His presence is always near and His power available.  Even though we cannot presume to understand God’s ways, we can always depend upon the trustworthiness of His promises.  Something new can emerge from the most dismal of circumstances.

Are you tempted to give up hope?   Each time you lose heart, remember the glory of new life seen in myrtles and the resemblance of the cross.  Glorious, resurrection beauty can spring forth from what seems impossible.

Sue Nash/2013

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