The Frustration Of Fickle Fruit

Years ago, pastors and evangelists often did not have the privilege to see the fruit of their labor. They would pastor or preach in a church for a season of a few years and then move on to another church in another location.

Today, through the use of networking, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, to name a few, we are able to keep connection with people literally around the wold in real-time in a matter of moments. It certainly changes the perspective of seeing the fruit of your labor.

This can be a double -edged sword, as you can enjoy watching that convert that you prayed with, cried with; gave your blood, sweat and tears grow and spiritually prosper. There is no feeling quite like “nurturing” that new babe in Christ as a spiritual father or mother.

However, if we are not careful, we can gauge what we would consider success or failure through constantly watching the fruit. Almost daily, we go out to the tree and walk away in frustration when we don’t see the fruit springing up. “Why aren’t you growing!?! You should be producing by now! All that work I put into you and I’m not seeing the fruit! What a waste of time!” Does this sound familiar?

We don’t give the increase! I know this is something we know in theory, but when it comes to the frustration of what we would call “Fickle Fruit,” or fruit that is growing profusely one day and seemingly at a screeching halt the next, we have a tendency to become territorial and put down the stakes that claim it as “our tree.”

At the risk of bursting your bubble, the tree does not belong to us. It belongs to God. The fruit does not belong to us. It belongs to God. Oh, we can enjoy the benefits of the fruit; the pride of knowing we had a part in planting the seed in good soil and watching it grow, but the simple fact is God grows the tree and the fruit. It is also the principle of it is a team effort. We don’t have a monopoly on Discipleship and we don’t always see the end result of what is produced.

Now before you throw up your hands and say, “Forget it then!” I want to give you some encouragement in knowing that God honors your effort to cultivate the tree and it is not in vain, whether we end up harvesting the fruit or not. When you see the weeds growing up near the tree that would choke the root system, you quickly pull them up. You make sure the tree has enough living water and exposure to the sun/son (now that’ll preach!)

Allow me to leave you with the encouragement Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”