When You Don’t See Fruit

This past summer, I fell in love with a lime tree at my local farmer’s market.

With visions of pad thai and refreshing summer drinks dancing through my mind, I pestered the weathered farmer with all my questions:

“Will it survive year-round in our zone?”

“What sized pot will I need?”

“How should I care for it?”

And most importantly… “When can I expect fruit?”

Before long, I was on my way home with a tree in the backseat and his final advice ringing in my ear: “Don’t expect fruit right now, but you still need to water it every day.”

His words reminded me of Psalm 1:1-3:

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3, NIV

We would probably all love to be resilient and fruitful like the tree in this Psalm. And yet many of us go through seasons where we can’t immediately spot the fruit in our own lives.

We want God to use us, but maybe don’t have the opportunity to serve right now.
Or maybe we are serving, but our efforts don’t seem to be making much of a difference.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, take heart. Unproductive seasons are a normal part of life.

Did you notice how often the healthy, prosperous tree from Psalm 1 yielded its fruit?

Not every single day—but in its season.

This is counter-cultural for us. We live in a world of year-round hothouse produce and round the clock productivity.

But trees are not meant to constantly yield fruit. And neither are we.

Dormant seasons of rest are necessary for health and for future fruitfulness.

Of course, this begs the question: Does this mean we can kick back and get lazy during those off-months? Is this passage giving us permission to be seasonal Christians?

Not in the least.

Fruit only comes in-season when our inner life is cultivated day in and day out.

And even a novice gardener like myself can tell you that daily cultivation involves two important things: saying yes to the source and saying no to the suckers.

1. Saying Yes to the Source:

Just like the fruitful tree in verse 3 is planted by a life-giving stream, fruitful people stay connected to God because He is our Source of life.

Verse 2 tells us exactly how to go about doing this:

Delight in God’s Word and meditate on it day and night.

In other words, we are to enjoy God by spending time with Him in Scripture (gaining His perspective on things, rejoicing in His promises, and letting Him fill us up in unmatched ways).

And then, instead of leaving Scripture behind when we get up from our quiet times, we are to carry God’s Word with us throughout the day…

turning it over in our minds,
considering life in light of it
and talking to God about all the thoughts it stirs in us.

When we delight and meditate on God’s Word like this, we are sinking our roots deep into the Living Water, which can sustain us through seasons of drought and will eventually produce fruit in us, when the time is right.

2. Saying No to the Suckers:

Suckers are the tiny little branches that pop up randomly on a tree’s trunk and send nutrients and energy in unproductive directions.

So when a gardener says no and prunes off the suckers, the tree gets healthier. It flourishes because suddenly, all its energy can go toward growth and fruit-production.

As Christians, we have our own “suckers” to deal with—and I think this is what verse 1 is talking about.

Walking in step with the wicked, standing in the way that sinners take, and sitting in the company of mockers are all practices that divert our energy and focus away from spiritual growth and flourishing.

So we need to identify the “suckers” in our own lives by asking:

What habits and attitudes drain my spiritual vitality?
And what connections (with media or people) hinder my connection with God?

And then we need to prune those things away.

Whenever we find ourselves in unproductive seasons, it is vital that we both establish and protect our connection to God. Because if we do these 2 things consistently, fruit will come.

Ultimately, the most fruitful Christians aren’t those who are constantly producing for God, but those who are constantly connecting with Him.

Putting it into Practice:

How are you encouraged to realize that fruit is meant to come in its season?

And what steps will you take this week to say “yes to the source” and “say no to the suckers”?

This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my reading plan: “Rest and the God Who Gives It.” To receive a copy of the reading plan, sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!

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