“A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” Isaiah 42:3

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.”  Isaiah 42:3

Just now I was sitting on the back porch drinking coffee, and I noticed that one of our pine trees had a new growth shoot out of the top of it.  It was taller by a foot than any of the new growth on the other trees around it.  Stretching further.  Reaching taller.

As I was looking at this new growth, a bird came and landed on it.  And it bent over, under the weight of the bird.  The bird remained on it for several minutes.  The new growth bent and wobbled as the bird adjusted and readjusted.  Finally the bird found a balancing point, and just rested on the bent over tree top.  The tree had been bent completely out of shape, but it did not break.

As birds do, just about the time it seemed to settle down, it flew away and was gone.  But the new growth on the tree did not immediately return to shape.  It just sort of remained bent over.  A few minutes later, I looked back and could see that it was beginning to move back toward its original position, but slowly - too slow to really observe.  It was happening over time.  It had initially been bent out of shape in a single moment, but it would take another 15 minutes or more for the tree top to return to its original, fully vertical position, once again reaching out for the sun.

This can sometimes be a picture of the Christian life.  At times, our new spiritual growth is weak, and can bend under the pressure of outside forces.  Such pressure can come in and cause damage and then leave as quickly as it arrived.  But in Isaiah 42:3, God promises that although He may allow us to become bruised at times, He will never permit us to become fully broken off.  Jesus said that He may even prune us from time to time.  But He will never allow His faithful people to become broken and separated from the life source of His vine.  If you are bent or bruised, take heart; it may take more time than you realize, but God will not allow you to be broken under the weight of outside forces.  He will repair you as you continue to reach for His Son.

Blessings, 

Pastor Bruce

bruce.cullom@gmail.com