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Psalm 1:3b NLT
‘Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.’
Watching a garden through the year is quite an amazing experience. I think I have been too busy to appreciate the changes before, yet now I become almost exasperated waiting for the apple blossom to crown the tree with glory. As I follow the seasons in detail, it is observing tiny daily changes as the year progresses. The plants are programmed to respond to the deep call of their creator and bear fruit in due season.
Such fruitfulness yields an enormous crop of apples that not only meet our needs but are freely and gladly distributed to neighbour, family and friends for a variety of purposes. However, to secure that fruitful season, the tree endures the apparent loss of life itself as autumn strips it back to its naked shell. Then winter with its storms and icy weather batters it, testing its resolve to endure. Then finally spring returns, and with great anticipation we wait and we watch until eventually the first signs of leaf assure us that all is well and a further fruitful season lies ahead.
We, in similar fashion, while well planted, are buffeted by many a storm and may indeed assume our fruitful season lies behind us. No two years are the same, so it is impossible to predict when the icy blasts will come, even late into the spring, threatening both blossom and hoped-for harvest.
The challenge is as I celebrate each new harvest in my life, I’m aware that the cyclical rhythm of life shall continue. I hope I learn through each cycle and therefore become less volatile in each round; that I prosper in who it is I am becoming through God’s grace, ahead of any external provision or distraction. There’s an old proverb that states, ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.’ Grace, like fruit, is the product of time. Its fruit, once formed, is trustworthy and nourishing. In an age of instant gratification, waiting and watching are two unappealing practices. Yet, it’s never too late to start, albeit there may be some time before there is a visible crop to feed from.
QUESTION: How well equipped are you at waiting and watching?
PRAYER: Sovereign Lord, produce a harvest from my life.
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