Bruised Reeds and Broken Trees

Happy Monday to our CFC family;

To start off today, I’d like to begin this week’s email by saying thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and my family over the last couple of weeks as we’ve walked through a season of health challenges. Some of those challenges are still ongoing, but we thank the Lord for His faithfulness through each of them.

If you have been reading my Pastor’s Pens over the last two and a half years, you know that many of the devotionals I share come from personal moments with the Lord, times when He reveals profound biblical truths through simple lessons in nature. They are gentle reminders of His power, His love, His protection, and healing. Quiet guidance in the everyday moments of life.

This past week was no different.

One morning this past week, while I was still at home dealing with stomach issues, I stood in the kitchen by the window waiting for the kettle to boil for a comforting cup of tea. As I looked outside, my attention settled on a tree across the street.

For more than twenty years, from that very kitchen window, I have watched that same tree grow from a small sapling into an impressive and healthy pine tree that stands beside the path running along the small lake across from our home.

It’s one of those trees that seems perfectly shaped, the kind of tree you would expect to see chosen as the Christmas tree placed proudly in front of a city hall building.

As I stood there looking out the window at this tree, I was reminded of a windy ice storm that hit our area about seven or eight years ago. During that storm, the trees in our neighborhood were weighed down heavily with ice. By morning, many of these same trees had lost branches under the pressure, including about two feet from the very top of that beautiful pine tree. I remember seeing it the next day and thinking, “Aww man, that tree is ruined,” and I figured that from that moment on, that tree would always look awkward and stubby without its pointed top.

And for a few seasons, that seemed to be true. It was still a nice tree, but it looked more like an oddly shaped bush than the tall, elegant pine it once was.

But as you can see in the picture above, something remarkable happened over time. Somehow, through processes far beyond my understanding, that tree repaired itself. Nature took its moment of brokenness and restored it. Today it once again has a strong, pointed top, looking as healthy as ever.

You probably have heard me say many times that God is in the business of restoring things that seem impossible to fix. Whether it is the top of a tall pine tree or the life of a wounded soul, God sees possibilities where we only see damage.

Some of you reading this today may be able to recall seasons of life when emotional storms caused real damage, either in your own life or in the life of someone close to you. The brokenness may not always be visible like the top of that pine tree, but it is real just the same. And sometimes it can feel impossible to repair.

In Matthew 12:20, Jesus gives each of us the encouragement that, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.” That God is gentle with our brokenness, patiently nurturing what seems fragile.

In Psalm 145:14, we are reminded, “The Lord sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down.”

That if we allow Him, God will intimately involve Himself in lifting us through the process of healing. Healing that naturally unfolds as we choose to allow the Master to guide and direct our steps. Sometimes that guidance leads us to places we never expected, introduces us to people we never would have met otherwise, and teaches us lessons we could only learn in seasons of difficulty.

One important lesson that we can learn from that pine tree is that healing often takes time. Just as it took several years for that tree to grow a new top, restoration in our lives is often a gradual process. God does not always fix things instantly. Instead, He patiently works through seasons, slowly rebuilding what was damaged.

Just like that pine tree across the street, I may never fully understand how the repair happens. But over time I can see the evidence of restoration. And the same is true with God.

If we are willing to place our broken places in His hands and follow His guidance patiently, step by step, we may one day look back and see that what once seemed ruined has become part of something beautiful only He could create.

And in the end, you may be amazed at where He leads you in your healing. The people He places in your life, the lessons you learned and the unexpected beauty He revealed from your moments of brokenness.

Question: What part of your life is God quietly restoring, even if you can’t always see and feel it happening?”

Have a great week and we’ll see you Sunday!

Pastor Dan