“…and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season…”
Psalm 1:3
Do you know how much is in you? As far as innate ability and resilience, do you understand what you're made of? I mean do you REALLY know? And not just when things are going well for you and you appear to be thriving, but at any given time, do you how much is in you? The qualities that you possess as a child of God?
God is the same – yesterday, today, and forever. He’s all God all the time. He’s an enduring God. Seasons come and go, times change and evolve. Yet He remains consistent. He’s not a seasonal God, and since you are created in His image, by design, you are built to endure through changing times as well.
Ecclesiastes 3 lists the variations of times and seasons of life, and God promises in Genesis 8:22 that “As long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night, shall not cease.” In a nutshell, every season will eventually change. Contrasting seasons and times are an unavoidable part of life. And while we may not know what each season will bring, changing seasons should never come as a surprise.
Though while you will go through various seasons, it's important to understand that you are not seasonal. Seasons are temporary; you were built to last. The bible tells us to look to things which are not seen, eternal things, instead of temporal or seasonal things.
Truthfully, we all go through things that tend to make us question our spiritual and natural productivity. We can often look back on times when we were producing "good fruit", and compared to the current season that we’re going through, we wonder if that fruit and time was our best season. In times like this, it is so vital that you don’t get the tree confused with the fruit. If you abide in God and allow God’s Word to abide in you, you will bear good, wholesome fruit. God guarantees it.
Psalms 1:3 says that man who delights in the Word of the Lord “shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water, bringing forth his fruit in his season.”
Let’s talk about trees for a moment:
When the bible says that those who delight in the Lord will be as a tree, there is much purpose in this analogy, especially when you consider how trees behave throughout the changing seasons.
Trees are not seasonal. They have seasons imposed upon them, but they themselves are not seasonal. Their fruit may be seasonal, but the tree itself endures through every season.
Trees are not like animals. There are some animals that you don’t see during certain seasons because they cannot withstand the conditions of that season. There are some animals that simply would not survive the cold of winter. So they either leave where they are and migrate to a warmer, more comfortable climate, or they go into hibernation until the season that would otherwise kill them has passed.
But trees don’t hibernate. They don’t move or migrate. They might sway a bit with the wind or the rain, but whatever season comes and whatever weather it brings, trees just have to stand there and take it. When it rains or snows and other animals take shelter inside the tree, the tree has to stand there and take it. When it gets really hot in the summer, the tree has to stand there and take the heat, even while others are using it for shade from that same heat. Trees are strong living things that were meant to endure throughout the changing seasons.
So, if the Word of God says that by delighting in Him, we will be like trees that bring forth fruit in due season, don’t take that comparison lightly. It’s no small thing.
Still, just because you can always bear fruit doesn’t mean that you will bear fruit in every season. Your fruit might be 100% good. Whatever you put your hands to is blessed, fruitful, and multiplying. You are bringing forth good fruit in your season. But if it is not your fruit-bearing season, then guess what? It’s just not your fruit bearing season. That doesn’t mean that your fruit isn’t good anymore. If it’s not the season for you to bear fruit, then that’s just what it is. But the covenant of God says that your season will come around again.
Don’t confuse the tree with the fruit…
If you’ve ever produced good fruit, it is proof that you are a good tree. Bad trees are not capable of producing good fruit and good trees cannot produce bad fruit. If you’ve ever produced good fruit, don’t let anyone count you as unfruitful just because it’s not your fruit-bearing season. And most certainly, don’t count yourself out! You may not have fruit on you right now, but you are still good for fruit.
You are still everything that God says you are. You can still do everything that God intended for you to do from the beginning. Don’t be discouraged if it seems that you not are manifesting the fullness of your productive potential right now. You’re just doing what trees do in whatever season you’re in. You’re tending to those things that are essential your continued growth and well-being. There is still seed in you, which means there is still a harvest that will come from you and it will be to the glory of God who created you.
We serve a God, who is our Father and we are made in His image. Just like He is the same God through every season, we have the ability through His power to stand, endure, persevere, and keep the same hope and same faith no matter what the season brings because He doesn’t change, and we reflect Him, His ability, and His glory.
Whatever season we're in globally, and no matter what season you're personally going through, you've totally got this! You were built for it. And if I were you, I'd be looking forward to the fruit!
Royally yours,
Audrey
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