How To Grow Fruit In All Seasons - Fruitful Living: How to Grow a Life That Matters

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)

“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD

and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.

They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop producing fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8, NLT)

I remember a kindergarten gardening lesson from my own life. My teacher passed out Dixie Cups and then troweled dirt into each. We were given a few seeds to punch down into the dirt and then a bit of water. I carried my cup home where I pulled over a kitchen chair and climbed up to set it on the windowsill. Each morning I repeated my climb to peer into the garden only to find brown dirt in a cup.

One day I asked my mom if I could dig up my seed to see what it was doing in the dark. She replied, “Sure, but if you do, it will stop growing.” Yes, so much of fruit production can look like brown dirt in a cup. Dormant seasons where nothing seems to be happening.

How do we grow fruit in all seasons – easy and hard?

There’s an image in the Bible that helps. It comes from a passage in the Old Testament where the prophet Jeremiah is speaking to the nation of Israel about their need to depend on God to grow them. Those who trust in the Lord are like trees planted by water that send out roots by a stream and never fail to bear fruit.

Two truths here: First, trees are planted in a relationship. Being in a relationship with God means making a decision to plant yourself in a connected place with him. If this is a step you’ve skipped, let’s pause for a minute. Might you just pray a simple prayer and ask God into your life to grow you to look like Him?

Second, trees send down their roots by the stream in dependency. Day in and day out, season to season. The phrase “sends out its roots by the stream” implies that we hold onto God for our support, for our hope and for our energy. Practically, we put down the roots into God for how we define ourselves as women, for the goals we set as moms and wives, and for the difference our lives will make in this world. Pick up a Bible and read more about the life of Jesus. Take fifteen minutes at the beginning of your day to sit quietly and think through how the Gardener wants to grow his fruit in you and how you can cooperate with him through the items you set down in your schedule. Ask a friend if she wants to join you in this journey and then set a time to meet together to talk about how it’s “growing.”

Because of such a relationship, it grows fruit eventually regardless of its immediate condition. God’s job is to grow fruit in our lives in all seasons. Our job is to be in a relationship with Him, like a tree is in relationship with streams of water.

To grow a life that matters is to produce a fruit-filled life. In season and out, fruit grows when we, like trees, plant ourselves by streams of water. Send down your roots even in the dormant days and you’ll see fruit coming in the future.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, I want to understand Your perspective on time and growth. When I look at dormant tree in my life, help me to see beyond the barrenness to what You are growing there. Give me restraint so that I don’t uproot the trees that are planted and therefore interrupt Your work! In Your name, Amen.

Adapted From: Fruitful Living: Growing a Life That Matters by Elisa Morgan. Our Daily Bread Publishing https://www.amazon.com/Fruitful-Living-Growing-Life-Matters-ebook/dp/B0F55VLYJ4/ref=sr_1_1?