Chinese Bamboo

(This is something I printed in the church newsletter -- but it still worth reading again.)

Bamboo has been known to grow at an amazing rate of two inches an hour. In the bamboo family, there is a species known as Chinese Bamboo. When the Chinese Bamboo is planted, the seed is buried for five years, seemingly without activity. During that time it must be watered and fed or it will die. If properly cared for, the Chinese Bamboo begins to grow suddenly during the fifth year. It shoots up 90 feet in 60 days.

Would you say that the bamboo grew in the final six weeks or over the entire five years? It took five years of feeding and nurturing to bring it to the level where it could reach such miraculous growth. The growth is impressive. But the seemingly dormant period beforehand was absolutely vital.

In a spiritual sense, some of us may be like the Chinese Bamboo. You may appear not to be growing spiritually, but a few years from now you may sprout into a ministry of dynamic proportions.