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False Perceptions
- Pastor Daniel Krebs
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Happy Monday to our CFC family! Years ago, I had the chance to show a young man around Winnipeg who had just arrived from Africa. Since it was his first time in the city, I thought it would be nice to give him a bit of a tour and help him get a feel for the place. It was early April—the time of year when, technically, spring has arrived, but as anyone from Manitoba knows, it doesn’t quite look or feel like it yet. On that day many years ago, the sun was shining, but the scars of winter still clung to everything around us. Snowbanks were still piled along the roads, and the city just looked dirty and worn out. Most of the snow had melted, but it left behind a mix of gravel, dust, and grime. The streets were rough, the grass was dull and brown, and the trees showed no signs of life. Honestly, looking back, It probably wasn’t the best day—or the best time of year—to give someone a “first impression” tour of Winnipeg. As we drove down one of the older streets, lined with mature trees towering over the road, my African friend turned to me with a concerned look on his face and asked, “Are all the trees sick?” I couldn’t help but laugh as it dawned on me how strange our northern climate must have seemed to him. “No,” I replied .“They’re not sick—they’ve just been sleeping the last few months.” Seeing the puzzled look on his face, I continued to explain. “They’re not dead, It just looks that way right now. But give it a few weeks, and those same trees will burst into green leaves and new life. This is just part of the season they go through every year.” He seemed genuinely surprised. In his experience, trees were always green and life was always visible. But here, in this strange new place, what looked like death was actually something entirely different. That moment has stayed with me all these years, and I still laugh whenever I think of it. But the truth is, isn’t that often the case in our own lives? What we see isn’t always what is real. We live in a world that places a lot of weight on appearances. We judge situations based on what we can see with our eyes, or what we can understand with our minds. And when things look bleak—when people walk away from us, when dreams fall apart, when prayers seem unanswered—it’s easy to come to the conclusion that all hope is gone. That the “tree is dead,” that the story is over. As believers, we are called to live not just by sight, but by faith. And that faith reminds us again and again that appearances can be deceiving. No where is this truth more powerfully demonstrated than in the story of Jesus. Think about how things must have looked in those dark hours after the crucifixion. Jesus—the miracle-worker, the teacher, the one who claimed to be the Son of God—had been arrested, beaten, and nailed to a Roman cross. His body was taken down, wrapped in linen, and sealed in a borrowed tomb. To every human eye, the story was over. To the disciples, Jesus had failed. The Kingdom He spoke of wasn’t coming. Their hopes were dashed, their future uncertain. What they “saw” looked like death, defeat, and finality. But what they couldn’t see—what their human eyes couldn’t yet perceive—was that in the midst of what looked like tragedy, God was writing the greatest comeback story in history. Because three days later, Jesus rose from the grave. Not metaphorically, not symbolically—but physically, historically, gloriously. Death was not the end. In fact, it was the very pathway through which new life would spring forth—not just for Him, but for all of us. In John 12:24, Jesus used a beautiful metaphor to describe what He was about to do: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” In other words, what looks like death is sometimes the very thing that leads to multiplication, to harvest, to resurrection. Just like a seed must go into the ground and seemingly disappear, something far greater is happening beneath the surface. This is what the resurrection season is all about. It reminds us that we serve a God who brings life out of death, hope out of despair, and beauty out of brokenness. Going back to that spring day in Winnipeg—my African friend eventually got to witness what I had promised. The same trees he thought were dead began to bloom, slowly at first, and then all at once. The lifeless branches burst into colour, and the air filled with the scent of renewal. What looked like an end was actually just a beginning a beautiful season. God specializes in resurrection. His timing is rarely predictable, but His power is unstoppable. And if you’ll hold on, if you’ll stay planted, spring is coming. The resurrection power of Jesus didn’t stop on Resurrection Sunday. It’s alive and active today, in your life, in your heart, and in every broken place that you surrender to Him. Question: What spiritual “tree” are you impatiently waiting to “blossom” in your life? Have a blessed week and we’ll see you this Resurrection Sunday! |
Christian Fellowship Church 417 Hanover Street Steinbach, MB R5G 0G0 Church Office: 204-326-2228 http://christianfellowshipchurch.ca Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe |