I have officially revived one of my plants for the third time in two months. You’d think by now I would be able to figure out how to keep the plant thriving; then again, I don’t have the slightest clue about plants.   Consequently, the crusty, brown, wilted leaves are evidence of my botanical ignorance.

Nevertheless, the hardest thing about this plant is figuring out the conditions it thrives the best in, mostly because there hasn’t been a single consistent factor involved. I have placed the plant in partial sunlight as directed, with moist soil as instructed, and have kept it indoors as suggested, but even after following the directions, my poor plant withered away the first time. I almost threw it away, because every part of the plant was dead except the smallest section at the bottom of the main stem. Because of that tiny hope of revival, I decided to take my chances to save the life of this plant.

I moved my plant to a new location, started a new watering routine, trimmed the entire plant down to the only life remaining, and to my surprise, watched as new leaves began to grow. In my delight, I kept this same routine for another week or so, expecting my plant to continue to thrive! Little did I know that this plant was already showing signs of wilting. It didn’t take long before the entire plant was hanging on by a thread once again. What did I do wrong?

I repeated the same steps as before and successfully revived the poor plant. Until, well, you guessed it.

As I was staring at my currently green plant this morning, I couldn’t help but wonder how on earth it has survived so long, and better yet, when the next cycle of withering was going to occur. Even after the ridiculous amount of effort I have put into this small and seemingly insignificant plant that hasn’t produced flowers since the first time it died, I cannot force myself to toss it out.

Not only have I been cheering for this plant’s survival, but I recently realized how familiar this journey has been for me. Plant or not, I know what it’s like to feel like a failure:   to watch as parts of my hope die and wither due to a heavy season of trials or the suffocation of discouragement. I’ve experienced seasons where it didn’t matter where I was positioned or how much Son-light I was exposed to, I still felt like part of me had died, and a miracle would have to happen to bring it back to life.

The further I have reflected on this plant’s journey to new life, the more personal it has felt. Maybe you can relate, too.

There are seasons in life that allow us to thrive where we are, and there are seasons that challenge us to survive with everything we have, but each season of life is a reflection of the faithfulness of our Gardener who knows exactly what we need to be revived over and over again. When I moved my plant to new locations, new growth would replace the dead leaves I had removed, but I found it interesting that the newest growth from the previous revival seemed to be the only parts of the plant to survive each time. Could it be that the Lord is moving us through new circumstances and to new seasons in order to revive the withering parts of our hope with stronger and more stable roots of faith?

Maybe it is a marriage that has been dead and unfruitful for years, maybe it’s a job that has demanded every ounce of energy you have, maybe you’ve experienced death, disease, bankruptcy, divorce, or rejection, or maybe you’ve been holding onto shame and regret that have prevented your roots from fully embracing the Living Water.  No matter what has caused parts of your hope to wither and die, we have a Father who is willing and able to revive us. Every single time.

And even though we may be in survival mode more often than we’d like to be, and we may feel as if our chances at thriving are slim to none, let me assure you with the same assurance Jesus shared with me, we serve a King who is always in control. His love for us overpowers our weaknesses, overcomes our sorrows, and overwhelms every part of our brokenness. There is nothing our Father can’t do. 

So, if we’re anything like my plant that has been holding on with every ounce of life it has left, we can believe in the promise of Jesus that while we are surviving, our God is reviving.