Like A Tree.. Bearing Fruit in It's Season
Meg Chaney
Welcome back to the Like A Tree Devotional Series. Find the Podcast Version here , or enjoy the written version below!
Let’s start with review of the verse we’ve been reading together from Psalm 1:
“He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers”
This tree, bears fruit in his time, or season. But not before.
There have been things in my life that I loved doing. I felt that they were good, and even served the Lord, only to be meant by a road block, sometimes a loud “No” and other times, a “Not Yet.” This is good, but not for this season. This is part of the plan, but not right now.
Have you ever been faced with similar things? You’re going along, doing what you think is best, only to be faced with resistance. My husband and I have tried to seek out training for Foster Care more than once. It’s something we’ve long been interested in. We would send the emails, try to sign up for the trainings, make some phone calls.
Not yet.
It’s a good thing. It’s a noble thing. But we’ve been faced with this “No” several times.
Has something like this ever happened to you? It seems like the perfect job, a great way to serve, a new opportunity for your family, big or small, but you feel the LORD giving a giant “No”, or “Not Yet.”
It will bear fruit in it’s time.
Sometimes the not yet, feels like, there’s still work to be done, this story isn’t over.
Maybe there’s still some unknown lessons to be learned. Maybe the LORD knows that while this would be good, it wouldn’t be good for your family, in this moment. Maybe you have a trial to face first. Some growth to be had.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”.
Maybe the flowers are only starting to bud on your tree. Or maybe some pruning in other areas of your life needs to happen first.
For years, I had to set some great dreams aside, to focus more on my tiny children. I saw a caution sign go up and paid attention, for me, some of my writing dreams were a
“No” while others were “Not Yet” or “I’ve got something completely different in mind.”
That fruit might still be growing but It might take some time. It might take some learning. It might take some work.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’.”
It’s an oft quoted portion of scripture, one you may be familiar with, but I think it’s worth reminding. The Lord has plans in store for us. There is fruit that will grow in our lives. It may just take some time to get there.
What areas of your Christian Life have you seen fruit? What might be growing at this moment? Have you ever received a mighty “Not Yet”?