I don’t know about you, but I do not feel fruitful. In school and life, I’m not seeing a lot of results, payoff, or other forms of fruit, and as things get busier, I’ve been asking the question, “what should I do when I am unfruitful?”
Let’s look at an example that Jesus used in Luke:
“A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ “
– Luke 13:6-9
We can so easily give up because we don’t see results quickly, but fruitfulness takes time. It takes time to grow a seed to a plant and for that plant to bear fruit. Apple trees can take 10 years to produce fruit from seeds. Sometimes, we need to be faithful in what is presently unfruitful to give it a chance to be fruitful.
On the other hand, God will also cut away things that are unfruitful, even the things in which we invest a lot of time and effort.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
– John 15:1-2
On yet another hand, we may not be as unfruitful as we think. Take the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah as an example. God called Isaiah and Jeremiah to warn Israel of their idolatry and wickedness and call them to repentance before they would be conquered and exiled by enemy nations.
If we measured Isaiah and Jeremiah’s fruitfulness by if they accomplished what they set out to do (have Israel repent), they were unfruitful and failed. Israel did not repent and was eventually captured and exileed.
Fruitfulness, however, isn’t always tangible, physical outcomes. It can be maturity, growing in character, and having the Fruits of the Spirit. If we use that metric, we can see that the fruit of Isaiah and Jeremiah’s labors was faithfulness in what was a very difficult assignment from God. Another fruit was evidence of God’s love in spite of Israel’s disobedience from before their exile to after their return. We may not see fruitfulness in our lifetime, but perhaps our children and grandchildren will get to experience it.
These ways of looking at unfruitfulness are not necessarily wrong, but they are not all right at the same time for the same situation. This is where discernment comes in. We need to read God’s Word, pray, and seek the Lord’s direction to discern what it is to cut off and what it is we need to be faithful.
Without God, we can do nothing. It is God that makes us fruitful, not ourselves. You may feel or be unfruitful, but if you are following God’s direction for you and abiding in Him, you will bear much fruit, but it will be His fruit and in His timing.
Lord, we ask you to show us if there is any unfruitful thing in our lives that you want us to cut out. We also ask you to show us if there is something unfruitful in which you want us to be faithful. We need your wisdom and guidance as we journey into fruitfulness with You. In Jesus Name, Amen.