Change from underground

Of its own accord the land yields fruit. (Mark 4:28) 

Are you familiar with the Chinese bamboo tree? This fascinating plant grows to a height of ninety feet and can be used for everything from home construction to furniture, from paper to pipes. It also has a very unusual growth pattern. It takes five years for a bamboo seed to sprout, but once it does, that tiny sprout reaches its full height in only six weeks—almost overnight! During those first five years, the farmer must water the seed every single day, all the while never seeing any growth. You can imagine an inexperienced farmer wondering if anything will ever happen. He might even give up.

Just as with the bamboo tree, the same is true both in the kingdom of God and in our own spiritual life: the most important growth is invisible. In today’s Gospel parable, the farmer plants a seed. But that seed doesn’t become a plant overnight. It takes the right combination of soil, water, and, the most important ingredient, God’s grace, to turn that seed into the “largest of plants” (Mark 4:32). In the end, it looks awfully impressive, but most of the work has already happened underground!

This is the encouraging message in the Gospel: God is always working beneath the surface. He is always providing the nourishment of his grace so that we can grow and blossom. Yes, we need to cooperate with that grace, but like the bamboo tree, the growth that we experience will far outstrip the effort we put into it. 

Because most of God’s important work happens unnoticed, we should be careful to water that seed of faith even when we don’t see impressive results right away. We can trust that God will bring the growth in his time and in his fashion.

So imagine yourself as that bamboo farmer. Every time you pray, you’re going to the well to get water. Every time you repent, you’re improving the soil. You may not be seeing or feeling much growth right now. But every day that you come to Jesus, growth is occurring. God is making you holy. One day you, too, will stand tall with the saints. 

“Lord, I trust you to bring about my growth. Help me cooperate with your work of grace.”

from wau.org

Transformation

He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body. (Philippians 3:21) 

Rummaging through your father’s drawer—the one filled with old keepsakes—you discover an unfamiliar photograph. It’s he as a teenager, grinning. He’s standing on a dock, poised to leap into a serene lake. The photographer must have managed to capture his attention the instant before the plunge. It’s hard to peel your eyes away from his vibrant young face.

Photos of our parents in their youth can be riveting. We recognize them because their core features remain—but still, how different they look! Gazing into their eyes in an old snapshot, it’s like we’re meeting them for the first time.

If it’s this much fun to see our parents young, can you imagine how it would feel to see ourselves as we will be, when our lowly bodies are glorified, and we’re changed into the very image of Jesus Christ? “Thrilling” is probably a good guess. Paul must have felt this excitement as he wrote to the believers in Philippi. Surely, they would have also been delighted to consider how God’s power would, one day, complete their work of transformation.

Take a few moments right now to envision this heavenly snapshot. See the you that will inhabit eternity: your eyes glimmer with light reflected from the Son of God. You are grinning widely because you have been tasting the eternal fruit of years spent trying to follow the Lord. Every burden has been lifted. Every inner hurt has been healed. Your battle against sin is forever won. God’s unique imprint of his own personality within yours has, at last, been fully revealed. 

Isn’t it encouraging to recognize this person is you? It’s the you that even right now, the Spirit is working to uncover. Through the storms, trials, stretching, and monotonies of life, the old version of you is peeling away, and Christ in you, the hope of glory, is being revealed. God won’t stop until his transforming work is finished.

If this little exercise is stirring up hunger for a spiritual breakthrough of some sort, carry it to the Lord in your prayer. Ask him to help you work on one specific area. And be on the lookout for evidence of the changes taking place.

“Lord, take me! Melt me, mold me, and use me.”

from wau.org

Changing hearts

There were seven brothers. (Luke 20:29)

The Sadducees were surprised. They had concocted a complicated story that they thought would force Jesus to acknowledge how silly the idea of the resurrection was. But Jesus answered by talking about heaven!

The Sadducees had asked about the brothers and their wife, but Jesus cut through to what was really on their minds. He unmasked their narrow way of looking at the Scriptures and showed them that they needed a change of heart. It was as if they didn’t really know what their real issue was. They weren’t asking Jesus the right questions—or at least the most important ones.

We know that even though he tried to help the Sadducees expand their vision, Jesus met with resistance and hardened hearts. But this doesn’t have to be our story. Not only can Jesus show us where we need to change our thoughts, but he can soften our hearts so that we want to change.

Now, we probably aren’t consciously trying to trip Jesus up with outlandish scenarios, but we may be looking at our situations too narrowly, just as the Sadducees did. 

For instance, you may be convinced that you just need your spouse or friend to stop a particular annoying behavior. And yet as you pray, you find that you are the one who needs to change by learning patience and flexibility. Or you may be praying for a neighbor’s troubled situation. The problem may not get resolved as you want it to, but you find your judgments about this neighbor dissolving as you develop a closer relationship with her. Or perhaps you are wrestling with an invitation to help out in your parish, and God gives you a new confidence that he will care for you. He washes away your fears and helps you discover how to reach out and still be faithful to your other obligations. 

As we approach the end of this liturgical year, be open to the possibility that God can take you where you might not expect. Let him surprise you with a taste of his power to transform your heart.

“Lord Jesus, I trust you. Let me not get so stuck in what I expect you to do that I don’t see the amazing things you are doing!”

from wau.org

Make over

I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish. (Jonah 4:2)

Have you ever wished you could have an extreme makeover?

Extreme-makeover television shows are very popular these days, probably because people enjoy seeing how a plain-looking person or a run-down old house can be transformed into a stunning display of poise and beauty. These shows always end with the “big reveal” of the newly transformed person or home, to the breathless adulation of the people witnessing it. Who wouldn’t be impressed? Something average has been turned into something outstanding!

Perhaps this is why the story of Jonah is so popular. The city of Nineveh was one of the largest and most powerful cities of its time. As capital of the Assyrian empire, it was also known as one of the meanest cities. Gobbling up land and overthrowing kingdoms throughout the Fertile Crescent, the Ninevites were ruthless in the way they waged war and tortured their captives. 

So when God first sent Jonah to tell the people of Nineveh to repent, Jonah balked. Converting all those darkened violent hearts? Impossible. All he could see was their brutality. But God saw something more. He saw their potential.

As the story unfolds, we see that Jonah was wrong; Nineveh underwent an extreme makeover of biblical proportions! But even that wasn’t enough for God. He went out of his way to soften Jonah’s hardened heart and show him just how deep his mercy runs.

God believed in the people of Nineveh and Jonah even before they believed in themselves. In the same way, God believes in our potential, even when we don’t understand it or we don’t believe it ourselves. He knows that he can do great things with us. He never loses faith in what we can become or what we can do.

Today, remember that God has an extreme makeover ready for you. No matter how weak or flawed you may think you are, he sees something beautiful and valuable: a person created in his own image and likeness. He can work with that and turn you into something outstanding.

“Lord, thank you for seeing such potential in me. Help me to see myself—and the people around me—through your eyes.”

from wau.org