If you ever need someone to methodically murder your flowering tropical plants, call me. I’m very good at it. Almost a 100% kill rate. Now, this doesn’t apply to green tropicals. Palm of all sorts can survive for years in my care, but the really pretty flowering ones? Calla lilies, orchids, Hawaiian pink quills. They’re goners.

And it’s not like I’m trying to kill them! I research. I have an app on my phone that’s supposed to tell me exactly what to do and how to help them thrive. I work at it! And still — Like Tommy Boy with his sales, I cannot help aggressively loving them to death.

I know this about myself. My lack of flowering green thumbs. I still buy them. I keep thinking, “Surely this time I’ve got it figured out. This time will be different.”

It isn’t. Until maybe it is.

My last calla lily bit the dust last spring. Literally. It just gave up on me. Withered away to nothing. I took the pot, still filled with dirt, and moved it to the stack of others who had succumbed to my gardening skills.

About a month or so ago I needed some dirt for another plant, one without any flowers that was thriving and needed a bigger home. I picked up old Lily’s pot to steal some soil. There in the midst I found the bulb. It was shriveled and peeling. Most certainly beyond hope. But I’ve never been one to give up easily.

I cleaned her off, peeled back the dried and decayed skins, and put her back in her pot with some fresh water. Then I tucked her in the corner of my porch. Every once in a while, I’d give her a little water, but not too much attention. And guess what happened?

This isn’t a terribly suspenseful story, and anyone with greener thumbs probably already knows the ending. Yup. My Lily seems to have revived. Not just one but TWO very promising stalks. Only time will tell if I can keep myself from murdering her a second time.

It’s funny how easily we can give up hope. How eager we are to declare defeat or death.

I’m wondering now what other things have I in my life that seem beyond resurrection. What else have I decided has no hope of life or goodness? What people or projects have I given up on? What dream have I surrendered as too wild? Too late? Too gone? Not just improbable but impossible.

Here’s the thing, my friends: God is still in the business of miracles.

Oh, my silly little houseplant story may feel trite or cliche and simple. That stuff may happen all the time. But it’s still wonderful. And it still took me by surprise.

To me, this little a bit of magic is a glimmer of hope. It’s a reminder that nothing is beyond the redemptive reach of Life.

May we never get bored with the story of resurrection! It’s not just for salvation and Lazarus and Jesus and stories that feel far away. We know it’s not irrelevant, but it sure doesn’t press into our day to day lives. Most of us rarely think about it. So let’s think about it.

What dream have you left buried?

What relationship have you neglected because you didn’t see a way to restore it?

What passion or talent have you ignored because you didn’t believe it was important enough? Or because you didn’t think you were good enough?

What opportunity did you bypass because you self-rejected or didn’t have faith in yourself or were afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype?

What windows have closed that maybe, just maybe might have a crack waiting for you to break through?

And how might our thoughts and actions toward each of these change if we truly believed God could raise the dead and redeem lost causes?

I don’t totally know where I’m going with all these thoughts. I just know that sometimes what we think is dead and gone isn’t. And sometimes God takes the scenic route through dark valleys to where he wants us to be. And sometimes we miss a whole lot of wonderful things by throwing away hope and quitting too soon and thinking it all depends on us when maybe we need to just leave stuff alone and let God delight us with the unexpected. And sometimes we need to give life another chance. We need to dust it (or ourselves) off, admit a few mistakes, and try again. Miracles may be waiting to happen, maybe right below the surface.