[This reflection by Jill Norman was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 14/Sep/2025]
A word of encouragement for those of you who, like me, sometimes feel past their best, a little dry and weary and not sure of their role in life.
This morning, in between showers, I took my cup of tea into the garden to enjoy the sunshine which had burst out in between the clouds. Hanging on the wall nearby is a basket which had dried out while we were away and though the flowers were not too bad, the trailing ivy-like plant was almost dead. However, we decided to leave it there and see if it might come back to life.
As I glanced up at this basket, I could see about four or five sparkling areas on this almost dead ivy where the rain had left little puddles of water and they were shining like diamonds amid the dried up leaves, and looked absolutely amazing.
Was the Lord speaking to me about the way I feel sometimes? I’m not getting any younger and sometimes, to be honest, I feel and possibly look half-dead or at least not up to much, worn out, weary, wondering what life there is left in me and certainly I wonder how I’m being a witness to God in what seems to be a fairly ordinary existence. But, as we’ve been taught so often, it’s not really about us, who we are, what we do, and how we feel. It’s about us hanging on to what we believe, despite the circumstances of our lives.
We gave the plant an opportunity to live longer, hang on in there despite the way it looked and in that moment, when I looked up, I saw something of wonder and beauty – diamond-like drops of water sparkling in the sun reminding me of how, in a moment, something so lifeless and seemingly dead could reveal something so precious.
Lord, whatever I feel like, let me be willing to hang on and wait for you to pour out the rain of your Spirit so that every now and then perhaps, someone will look at me and see the light of your Son shining on me. I guess it might not happen every day and I expect I may not feel much different but I will be patient, and expectant and wait for You, Lord, to do Your work in this seemingly ageing, ordinary lady (well, woman) like me.
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Last Sunday’s reflection: The Harvest is Plenty by David Makanjuola
Contributed by Jill Norman; © Jill Norman