Not Dead Yet

I love the scent of rosemary. When I bought my house I picked a lot that faces south so I can grow almost anything in the front yard. One Christmas I was in one of the big box home stores and bought a cute little rosemary topiary to sit on my table. It gave my kitchen a wonderful aroma. That spring I planted it outside and it grew like wild. Every visitor to my front door was greeted with a whiff of rosemary. I was told by several people that it would not survive our mild southern winters but it did. That plant thrived for years until I pruned it too late in the Fall one year when it sadly died.

Since then, I moved and a friend rented that house for 6 years. She purchased her own home in 2016 and I moved back to this house in early 2017.  One of the first things I did that spring was to buy another rosemary plant and put it in the same south-facing spot by my front door where it thrived once again quadrupling in size by the Fall.

This past winter was unusually cold with temps dipping into the teens several times. I kept an eye on my rosemary and it survived each of the dips until…the last cold snap when temps dropped in the single digits. Sadly my poor bush turned brown and the needles began getting dry and hard. It looked dead as a door knob. I sadly told myself “next spring I’ll pull it up and start over with a new plant.”

This morning as I was leaving the house I glanced over at my bush and my eye caught a hint of green at the bottom. I went over closer and examined the plant and found new growth on this bush that still looks mostly dead.

I heard the still quiet voice of the Lord say “It’s not dead yet!”

I felt a spiritual meaning from this encounter with this plant that up-to-this-point looked and acted like it was dead. Just like some situations in my life – and yours too probably – that to the natural eye look dead and act just like they’re dead…..but God is saying to us “It’s not dead yet!”

Whatever situation you’re facing today that looks dead to you – hopeless, unfruitful, and not showing any sign of life – trust God to bring life to it.  Our God is the only one that can bring life to our dead situations. Trust Him today!