“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;” (2 Cor. 4:7-9 ESV)

I took a drive through the country the other day. I had a lot of things pressing on my mind and spirit. My brain was grasping at straws for a resolution to a problem I had not fully gathered all the facts for. I was jumping from one issue to the next and winding my stomach into a knot. The Spirit led me to take a drive, to focus on God’s creation and worship Him, to focus on Him and not the problem. I chose a road I was familiar with but had not driven in quite some time. As I turned onto the road, I realized that this was one of the areas on our county that had suffered a rash of wild fires in a short period of time. What met my eyes at first was the stark black and charred earth, trees and brush against the backdrop of a perfect spring-like blue sky. I kept driving, paying attention to just how big the fire had been. The more I drove, the more I noticed that even though the fire was fairly recent, small sprigs of greenery were already making their way through the charred ground and ash. I’ve seen this before, but on this particular day, it was important to see it once again.

Ministry can be hard sometimes. Often harder than we even expect it to be. The text above is one of my go-to verses when I am remembering to keep myself humble and not get too big on myself. But as I reflect on how I came to the place of viewing this burned out forest on a day when I was feeling all the feelings about my effectiveness and competency, the word resilient came to mind. Not sure where the word search would take me, but I landed once again on this go-to verse. This time, I am moving past the clay jars into what Paul is saying about some of the difficulties of ministry. I’ve read it many times, but on this particular day and in this particular moment it resonates with me. Even though I am looking at it through pastoral eyes, I also see that it applies to any Christian who is taking their faith seriously and actively working and seeking ways to expand the kingdom of God.

The wildfire, destroyed hundreds of acres. Or so it seems. It is true, that some of the trees will never rebound. They will not sprout new roots, their seeds won’t propagate. They will become rubbish that may fuel the next inevitable wildfire. The forest will look pretty bare for a year or two, but those small sprigs of green will flourish. Grass and ferns will fill the ground again, trees will begin to re-leaf and new ones will grow. Eventually, one will hardly be able to tell that a fire swept through this part of the woods.

Our Christian journey sometimes will take us through moments that feel like utter destruction and if not that a pretty good scarring from being burned about something we did or didn’t do. Paul is letting us know that this is inevitable. The question becomes how will we react? Will we give up and die, burned to the point that we no longer will trust and believe in God? Or will we be like those small sprigs of greenery, hoping against hope that God will restore us? I believe it is one of the markers of our faith to see how we will handle the stress of a test. We want to believe that we will pass the test when it comes our way but the reality is we really won’t know until we get there.

The reality is that I have faced harder situations, been knocked down by false statements, placed my trust in some who betrayed me, and deal head on with conflicts that I would have rather not dealt with. I have had moments of being overwhelmed with grief, hot with anger and utterly confused. When I compare the current concern against some of those in the past, this really is not as hard or difficult as I am making it out to be.

I believe, now, that the Spirit led me on this drive through the country to this particular road, to remind me that there is hope. Just as he has sprouted greenery from the ashes in this woods, he has sprouted greenery in every moment in the past when I thought I was completely finished. Even though I am still feeling the anxiety of the moment, I am reminded that there is hope again. This lifting from the ashes is not for my sake but it is for me to continue to fulfill the calling on my life — “so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies”(2 Cor. 4:10). And so it is for all believers who desire to do God’s will and face the various challenges of life. We are resilient!