Why Planting Matters (Even When It Doesn't Feel Like It)

One of the words we throw around in our Christian culture is fruitfulness. Being fruitful. Bearing fruit. We learn early on as Christians that we are known by our fruit. A good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Lately I've found myself in a place where I don't feel I see the fruit. Because I naturally tend toward proving and earning, I usually associate a lack of visible fruit with a lack of doing something right. So if I'm not seeing what I think I should be, I assume I'm doing something wrong and that's why.

Maybe you find yourself in this place. Maybe you're spending a lot of time and energy to "plant" little seeds and you still haven't seen the fruit of it yet and you're starting to wonder: Is it even worth it? Do the small seeds even matter?

While I think the fact that maybe I'm doing something wrong can be true, I also started thinking about what goes into a good tree bearing good fruit. A tree bears fruit because a seed was planted and cultivated. When a seed is properly planted and cultivated, the fruit naturally comes, but not instantly.

I looked up how long it takes an apple tree to grow. Even the smallest apple trees take 2-4 years to bear viable fruit. YEARS. If you give up too quickly because it isn't displaying the fruit you want in the time frame you want it, you will miss out on years of good fruit.

Learning about these little dwarf apple trees helped me to understand my perspective was off. Planting a seed is just as powerful as watering it. I cannot control the soil necessarily (especially if your soil is people), but I can be faithful to plant EVEN WHEN I can't see the results. 

Whatever you're doing right now to plant seeds is worthwhile. Are there more innovative ways to plant? Probably. Could we be planting more seeds? Yes. Do we also need to cultivate seedlings? Definitely. But planting without seeing the result is never a waste. God is the gardener and that seed will sprout and flourish in His time, if we will stay faithful.

One last note: The fruit is natural. I think sometimes we (at least I) get caught up in the visible fruit in my life because what I'm actually concerned about is what people see. I'm trying to prove something to them. "Look at this Purple Book I finished. Look at this song I wrote. Look at this person I led to Jesus. Look at this life group. Look at this, look at this, look at this."  

But God is the One who makes things grow. As we are faithful to plant and water, He will cause it to grow. Fruit is the natural byproduct of something that is healthy and growing. Don't just focus on the fruit. Focus on the faithfulness for the small things of planting and watering. Sure Instagram posts of daily planting and watering would be WAY less exciting, but that's real life. Most of life is faithfulness in unseen, small ways. Stay faithful and the fruit will come.

"I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow." 1 Corinthians 3:6