What Is Your Life Source?

I did a little yard work last week that included trimming a few tree branches that were starting to scrape along my house gutters.  In fact, that was the only job I was planning to do, but you know how that goes.  I got distracted by some other bushes that were in dire need of trimming and pruning of the dead stuff.

That job took so long that I completely forgot about the tree branches in the back yard until the next day.  When I happened to spot them lying there, all shriveled up and dead, I was immediately reminded of the verse in John 15:5 where Jesus tells his disciples (and us):

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him,  

he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Dead branches lying next to a tree full of lush green life.  Wow, is there a better visual of what it looks like to be connected to Jesus as our supplier of life?

And yet God did lead me down another thought path that also spoke deeply about the importance of staying connected to our life source.  It’s the heart of this week’s post.

I mentioned last week that our church family was going through a difficult season.  With their permission, I share more about this heartache because I believe God wants to use these circumstances to illustrate another example of the importance of staying connected to the source of life.

A young couple in our church, who were pregnant with their first child, received devastating news several months into the pregnancy.  It was quite probable that their child would not live to full term because of some serious, likely-fatal conditions.  And if he did survive, it would be for a very short period of time.

Because of God’s mercy, the young couple was able celebrate the life of their beautiful baby boy with a full-term delivery.  I’d love to tell you that God performed a miracle, and all the life-threatening conditions were instantaneously healed.

But we all know we don’t always get the outcomes we pray for.  The couple was able to hold and love this living, precious child for 12 cherished minutes before God called him home.

While he was in his mother’s womb, connected to that source of life, he was as active as any baby while the pregnancy progressed.  And surprisingly, he was even active throughout the labor and birth.  As long as he was protected and nourished through his mother, he was as alive as she was.

But when that life-source ended with his entry into this world, so did his life.

It’s another painful, yet poignant reminder of what it means for us as believers to stay connected to Jesus, the Source of life for us.  True life that leads into eternity.

We are all deeply grieving this painful, tragic loss along with their families.  No, we don’t fully understand the “whys” behind this. 

At the risk of sounding trite, I believe God does not waste an ounce of our pain in this life. This family has seen so many examples of God’s mercy to them in those last months of pregnancy and into birth.  They know God is walking with them.

They believe their baby’s life and death have already had a major impact on so many people around them.  This couple will be forever changed by this experience.  They will love him for the rest of their lives.

Yes, they will grieve, to some degree, perhaps for their lifetimes.  I can’t wait to see the fruit, and life, that God will bring out of this heartbreak.

God has the final word on all that robs us of joy in this life.  We can cling to his promises with full assurance that he will never fail us.

Have you answered that title question?  Are you connected to the only true source of life in this world?  This young couple is, and it will make all the difference in the world when they see their son one day in heaven and hold him in their arms once again.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them,

for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 19:14