I sat at my sister in law’s table with great anticipation. That afternoon, she showed me the bountiful harvest of blackberries that had grown in her garden that year. Now I was about to sample the sweet fruit in a cobbler that she had lovingly prepared and placed in the oven.
Y’all, it was so good. I wish I could give you just a bite of this goodness. You’d ask me for the recipe.
When Beth moved into that home over a decade ago, there was not a blackberry on the property. Not a single fruit bearing tree was visible for quite a while. It all started with packets of seeds planted in the ground.
I am going to confess that I have never grown a thing. In high school, this girl tried not to cry as she stood in front of her entire class and admitted to her science teacher that the experiment had failed. I could only present dirt because I forgot to water the seeds, and they died.
If you hope to have fruit, you have to faithfully nurture the ground the seeds are planted in. You must guard your precious shoots from pests seeking to infest what you’ve worked hard to plant. An untended fruit tree can get covered with a fungus that will infect the roots and bring disease.
Growing life-giving fruit requires vigilance and lots of hard work. A daily tending to the soil makes a difference.
The wisdom of Scripture warns us: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is like a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12). God has planted hope in our hearts through the resurrection of Jesus. We must cultivate the seed of God’s Word and make sure the truths deep within us remain in fertile ground. Discouragement and doubt can sneak in like parasites and try to stake their claim on us. The weeds of wrong thinking will start to take root if we don’t prune out the lies that are so pervasive in this world.
Right now, you may feel like you are standing in a big pile of dirt producing nothing, but you can guard your heart and persevere in hope:
- Keep watering. God’s Word is living water to your barren soul. You need a daily intake of truth to survive.
- Stay anchored. Place a stake in your life that says “I believe.” Trust God is unchanging, and your hope is certain no matter how empty the ground you are sowing may seem right now.
- Fertilize liberally. You can’t continue to grow in a world full of opposition without help. Feed your faith through engaging with godly influencers at your church, from listening to life-giving podcasts, and by reading books that enrich your life.
Friends, let’s hold on to hope even when it’s hard. God has promised we will live fruitful lives as we continue to follow Him. We can trust that the seeds God has planted will grow into a beautiful harvest as we continue to maintain our hope in Christ.
