As the world is in lockdown, and you can’t see the light …. and you feel as if you are sinking into depression, consider the Jacaranda tree: every year, the strong winds of July and August strip the Jacaranda of all its remaining leaves until it’s nothing but a miserly framework of bare and dry-looking branches. It’s very easy at that point to believe the tree is dead.

However, the purpose of those winter winds is not to kill the tree, but to free it from its old, withered leaves so that it has capacity for brand new growth. 

In Spring-time, like clockwork, the very same Jacarandas that appear to be dead and done for begin to burst into a vibrant splash of glorious purple blooms all around us. Without the winds that strip away the Jacaranda’s old leaves, the tree might not bloom as marvelously in Spring.

The Earth is currently walking through its winter season – the winds that are blowing now ion our planet are not meant to destroy us, but are sent to create capacity for the great renewal that’s coming. 

The revival of our planet will happen suddenly and magnificently until people say, “Surely this is the doing of the Lord and it is marvelous in our sight.” 

Don’t lose hope 

Shannon Herbst