Death Brings Life
As I walk past the bed of my husband’s truck, I see it.
Not it, actually.
Its.
Its upon its upon its.
One seedling after another,
growing there in the most unlikely of places.
And, I smile and wipe a tear all at the same time.
Technical difficulties of the auto-mechanical kind
have left my husband’s truck
motionless and still.
Day after day after day.
Week after week after week.
Month after month after month.
The sight of it sitting there,
lifeless,
without his life to breathe life into it
through the turning of his key in the ignition switch,
is just another painful, tear-evoking reminder of my loss.
Day after day after day.
Week after week after week.
Month after month after month.
And yet, standing there today,
gazing into the bed of his truck,
I realize more life is here
than I could ever have possibly dreamed.
Parked underneath a desert willow,
seeds from above have fallen and taken root.
Not one seed,
not one seedling,
but an entire truck bed full.
I tell you the truth,
unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies,
it remains alone.
But its death will produce many new kernels—
a plentiful harvest of new lives.
~John 12:24
Death that brings life.
Sacrifice of one for the harvest of many.
It’s a mystery to be sure.
And yet the one truth
that cannot be denied
is the exponential way in which
new life springs forth from one seed,
seemingly dead and lifeless,
buried under the weight
of all that would seek to
suffocate it,
snuff it out,
cover it up.
Death brings life.
And in a totally different way,
and yet much in the same fashion,
I have seen the death of my husband
sprouting up as
seedlings of hope,
seedlings of comfort,
seedlings of redeeming the time,
seedlings of appreciating others,
seedlings of don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today,
seedlings of desiring Jesus in a real and personal way,
seedlings of living out our God-given destiny,
seedlings of make. it. count.
Day after day after day.
Week after week after week.
Month after month after month.
Through my husband’s death –
and the words God has given me to share
as I walk this journey
and surrender to His will –
I am seeing God bring new life.
And greater still,
I can’t help but think,
that just like these seedlings
have gone unnoticed
in the bed of this truck,
there are countless more seedlings
springing up from this loss
that I have yet to discover.
For death –
death in and through Christ Jesus our Lord,
doesn’t take life,
it gives life.
Just look at the cross.
Just look at the sinless lamb of God.
Just look at The One who was willing to die for a harvest of many.
Just look at the new life you and I are now living.
And this new life doesn’t just last
day after day after day,
week after week after week,
month after month after month,
or even year after year after year.
This new life,
the kind of life that only Jesus’ death can bring,
lasts for ever and always,
for all eternity.
~Stacy
I wrote this post Sept 2016 – a few short months after losing my husband unexpectedly to a heart attack. I’m sharing it again today because it just seems to fit – with the theme ABUNDANCE and with Christ’s death and resurrection. This post was just one sweet revelation God spoke to my heart on my grief journey. It along with many more posts written in my early days of loss can be found in my book, “YOU’LL BE FINE, BEAUTIFUL. YOU’VE GOT GOD: Experiencing God in the Midst of Grief” .
