I get wowed almost every day by some amazing aspect of God’s creation! Today, it was the resurrection plant, so named because, though it appears to be dead, it is simply dormant until it finds water and blossoms to life again. These plants live in dry desertlike conditions and can survive years without water.
Resurrection plants can lose 95% of their cellular water and still survive. It might take years before they find any water, but when they do, the magic begins, and they open up and turn green in just a few hours.
Some Christian families pass down their resurrection plants from one generation to the next to remind them of Jesus’ resurrection. The beautiful plant is often displayed in a bowl of water at Christmas and Easter. It is a powerful reminder of the cycles of life and death, and the promise of new beginnings and renewal that come with faith in God.
The resurrection plant also illustrates that even when we are in dry times, there is hope of renewal. The spark of heavenly life remains within us despite outward appearances. We also need to adapt in hard times and be resilient. These plants also remind us that sometimes it takes time for us to find solutions to our problems—to draw from Jesus, the water of life, in a dry and dusty land. We may seem dormant during the quiet phases of our lives, but when the time is ripe, we have to let Jesus lead us to our desired haven where we can flourish and blossom.
I am reminded of what the Lord said to Jeremiah: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7–8 NIV).
Easter is a time to meditate on this transformation from the death of the old to new life. It’s a time to celebrate the fact that Jesus laid down His life for us so that we, through His sacrifice, can have life eternal.