Avocados are one of my favourite fruits, so I decided to try to grow an avocado plant.  Following the tips I found online, I stuck four toothpicks into the seed so it could rest half-submerged on the mouth of a jar filled with water — and waited.

When a month had passed with still no sign of life, I considered giving up.  Perhaps no life remained in this dull brown seed.  Finally, a tiny crack appeared at its base; but a few more weeks passed before a root emerged from the crack.  Then another crack appeared, and a small shoot peeked out.

The seed that had appeared lifeless is now growing into a small but healthy plant.  This baby tree is proof that life remained inside the seed, despite outward appearances.

As Easter approaches, I remember my avocado tree.  How hopeless Jesus’ followers must have felt when they saw him die on the cross and watched his lifeless body carried away and sealed in a tomb.  Yet hope was not dead!  Three days later Jesus would rise triumphant over death and the grave.

Jesus’ resurrection is a far greater miracle than my avocado plant. But that plant shows me that even when the outlook seems hopeless, we can wait on God, who offers new life, new hope, and new beginnings!

Prayer: Dear God, help us to remember the hope we have in you, even when our situation seems hopeless.  Amen.