When New Life Comes Through Trial
The rain cascading off the roof like a waterfall reminded me of the overwhelming emotion which paralyzed me the moment I heard the news. Though the passing of time blurs the sharpness of the memory, the old ache validates its truth. When new life comes through trial, we seldom value the process as much as we treasure the outcome.
New Life brings with it the Joy of unquenchable Hope, but what we easily forget is new life comes only through great trial and at times, pain.
Spring’s sweetest song is that of new life, as the earth awakens from its winter slumber. Yet even as I savor the sights of new life bursting through the dark soil of my gardens, I see the harsh remnants in the dry, dead wastes of the journey to a new beginning.
Perhaps the most vivid illustration of new life emerging from trial and suffering is told in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For, while I stand the recipient of the new life purchased for me at the Cross, I must understand it came through the torturous death of Christ. For though eternal life was sealed through Christ’s resurrection, His sacrificial death was required first for the purging of sin. (Romans 8:1-39, 1 John 2:2)
Truly the greatest gift ever given, eternal life is but one facet of God’s love to us through Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
The new life we receive at salvation continues much like winter melting into spring year after year, as we transition the winters of our lives, watching God bring new growth from harsh circumstances.
On an April day much like this one, I stood by a hospital bed holding my brother’s hand as we said good-bye to my father.
Having flown together from Philadelphia to Charleston, South Carolina after receiving the news from my mother, we said the words buried long in our hearts, yet at forty-nine years of age, my father lay in a coma unable to respond.
Just a few days later he was gone. Thirty-seven years later, I still have questions, I still wonder if he heard my last “I love you.” Worst of all I wonder if he knew Jesus.
Though I shared my faith with my family, only my brother came to know Christ. It would be another fifteen years before I had the privilege to lead my mother to Christ.
Since then, standing beside the graves of many loved ones, including my granddaughter, Indigo, has not only taught me much about death and grief, but about the new life which blossoms through trial.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Jesus Christ defeated death to give us eternal life, but God is making all things new, even now. As a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) I live each day becoming more and more like Christ. (Romans 8:29)
Every trial, all suffering is redeemed through bringing forth new life just as each year the same plants burst through the soil in my garden, anew; stronger and more beautiful than the year before.
Having weathered the harsh winter darkness, icy winds, heavy snows and brutal spring rains, tender plants testify of a strength rooted in Hope planted by Creator God.
I stood as Christ’s own by the death bed of my father thirty-seven years ago, but though I stand today at a rainy window still Christ’s own, I am not the same woman.
God’s perfect work of making all things new started at my salvation many and many a year ago, brings forth the fruit of new life with each harsh winter season of my life.
And while my outward man perishes through each season of suffering, my inward man is made new. And one day, my full beauty will reflect His when we stand face to face.
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