14 September – Ben Cornell, Faith Church

Grasses

Grasses are the most beautiful, interesting plants. We are used to seeing grasses cut short. Allowed to reach full height, they produce surprising flower/seed heads. A field of them in bloom, all the different types, heights, shapes, forms, colours, is glorious. This is just ordinary grass, not even considering bamboo, rice and so on.

The scale of God’s creative endeavour is mindbogglingly breathtaking. And we, as his image, are the pinnacle of his self-expression, which is a whole different level of wonder, humility and awe. In a field of grass, we can see nations of individuals striving towards fulfillment, cut down again and again, before they reach their full, glorious, surprising form. God has a full form in mind for each of us and for every blade of grass.

The world may mow us down but we will keep growing under the eye of God’s light. God is relentless and he will see each of us to the fulfillment he has planned. God is relentless for good, relentless for justice, relentless for love and creativity, wonder and beauty. Chaos and evil may swirl in fury like a storm ripping across the land, but God’s peace will always be there when the storm burns out.

His mercy is relentless. His joy is relentless. His hand of correction is relentless. In the end, none of the frustrations, difficulties, shortcomings, abuses and attacks of this world can thwart God’s will to bring us to fulfillment as our true selves in union with him. There is much we must endure but our destiny is inevitable in God. We live beneath the storm, fearing it. But the storm lives beneath God, fearing him. God is with us through the storm, holding us tight, and his peace awaits us when the storm burns out.