Tree

Late winter in Wisconsin is a dreary time. Everything is frozen, gray, and dead. School is in Hard Mode™. Applications for the following autumn are already due.

How are we supposed to see the glory of God when everything in the world is so, well, *blegh*? How are we supposed to experience the kingdom of God when all we’re experiencing is stress, sickness, and literal darkness?

Well, trees don’t grow overnight. The seed of a tree takes whole seasons to root, sprout, blossom, and grow. In the same way, the kingdom of God is not something that is fully revealed to us in an instant. BUT, that doesn’t mean it isn’t already here. It is something we experience in this lifetime as a process, not a product, and something that we nourish with our own faith as the body of Christ.

Have patience. God has already planted the seed in you. The kingdom of God is already here – the seed is just still taking root underground.

Sarah Schultz, Madison College 2020
Faith & Vocation Fellow

Dear God: This Lent, call us to let you sow the mustard seed of your church in the garden of our hearts. Help us to be patient, and to be good stewards of your kingdom on earth, even if we can’t quite see it yet. Amen.

It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.

Luke 13:19