Bough Breakers

There was an historic snow and ice storm in my town this week. Our home backs up to a thickly wooded area, so we watched the fir trees become slowly enrobed in snow and the deciduous trees become, twig by twig and branch by branch, sheathed in ice.  The most fascinating thing about this process is how weightless a solitary snowflake or a drop of water is, and yet how much damage can be wrought when there are hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of them piling up upon one another.

Within a few days, the mighty trees began to weary. The deciduous, bereft of the ability to bend and yield, became brittle and snapped at the least blow of the wind. Whole branches abruptly snapped off,  leaving a forest of amputees. The firs, more flexible, held up better, but they also were more generous in catching and collecting snow, and after a certain weight, they, too, fell. The trees that seemed to make it all right were those who were able to lean into a mightier tree nearby, resting until the wind and snow stopped and the sun melted away their great load.

I thought how this reminded me of our Christian faith. We are not exempted from the ice that suddenly delivers many tiny, stinging troubles that pelt and pile upon us till we are ready to snap and break. Nor are we excused from heavier loads. This is not heaven yet. But we are given a promise, that we have Someone we can lean upon, upon whom we can rest and transfer the weight of our cares and sorrows. He props us, as it were, till the stormy cycle passes (and it always does) and our burdens melt away, allowing us to stand true and straight again.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28