Nothing Can Stump God

In Advent, Jesus is compared to “a shoot that will come up from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). Generally when we come across a tree stump, it appears gray, inert, and lifeless. However, after a tree is cut down, some species can resprout from the roots or from the stump itself. If the sprout produces enough leaves, it can eventually grow into a full tree. According to the American Climbers website, many trees have this ability to resprout as a way to regenerate after forest fires.

This image of a stump sending forth a shoot is a reminder that we should never doubt God’s ability to generate new life in us and for us. The Psalms include many passages in which the author pleads for God to act now. We are impatient with God’s timing, but the period of waiting has an important function as new life is nurtured in the darkness. The stump that appears to be dead is harboring new life.

When we are “stumped” by losses, grief, or disappointment, it’s difficult to believe that new growth can occur within us. However, as the poet Jessica Powers observed:

“Yet who am I to minimize the worth

of what a stump is likely to bring forth?”