“For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along!’”
- Song of Solomon
This beautiful deep exhale of dark clouds floating away, holding back their rain, flowers blooming, vines blossoming and fruit ripening is a promise of the harvest we reap.
HARVEST WE PARTAKE
As I began planning this study last November, I had no idea God would take me through an experiential lesson in being planted, staying firm and waiting on Him. Months of dealing with loss, trials of family division, rebuilding marriage and strained friendships had taken its toll and I began to feel defeat and worn from the battle.
Almost every day, no matter how dark my days felt, planting the seeds of God’s Word in my heart suddenly felt important, even if it was one word. Knowing God would water and cause the growth in His own time kept me pressing toward the prize. As I yielded to the Holy Spirit, His Word continually brought comfort very specific to my needs; I even felt the exhilaration of victory even while in the thicket of my trials.
When we fix our eyes on the prize rather than the pain, the harvest seemingly comes when least expected. Only then can we experience a deep comfort and joy because we believe God at His Word. Peter knew this secret and he shared it with us:
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy…” I Peter 1:6-8 (emphasis mine)
Truthfully, my circumstances haven’t changed. But God has brought forth fruit in areas I didn’t think possible and in timing that wasn’t my own. Deeper love in a marriage. More joy in friendships. Greater peace in trials.
When the harvest comes, we bear fruit for others. After all, have you see a tree eat its own apple? Yet, God nourishes us in the process, as well, so we learn to rely on His strength.
Fruit sustains our faith and deepens trust in the Master Gardener.
Fruit invites us to abide more deeply in Christ.
There are still some branches of mine being pruned, some have been broken off and are being grafted back into the Vine, but seeing God flourish places that had no sign of life has deepened the seeds of perseverance as I simply wait on Him.
HARVEST WE GIVE
Paul didn’t walk through the vineyard that night as Jesus unveiled the mystery of abiding in Him. Yet he unmistakably experienced pruning and abiding in Christ for the purpose of serving others.
Philippians 3:5-6 boasts an exhaustive list of Paul’s credentials:
A people of Israel
Of the tribe of Benjamin
A Hebrew of Hebrews
A Pharisee
Zeal
For Legalistic Righteousness
Yet Paul counted His entire resume as loss. By the end of his life, he had virtually nothing left of himself. Everything that validated Paul as credible, intelligent, valid and prestigious had been pruned away.
Read Philippians 3:7-15. How did Paul respond and what was the harvest that came from being pruned?
His one passion, His one calling, His one desire was to fix His eyes on Jesus. His testimony of mature pruning is an example to us. (Philippians 3:15) He didn’t look at what He left behind, which I tend to do often. He pressed forward, desperately desiring to bear fruit.
Paul’s new resume and credentials sound quite different from where he started:
“I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. Acts 20:19-21
No matter what field God plants us in - as a stay at home mom, as a wife, as a daughter, as an employee, as a bible teacher, as an evangelist, as a sister - we all bring forth fruit to point others to Christ.
HARVEST THAT DOESN’T COME
So what do we do when vines don’t seem to have fruit? How do we respond to God when we’ve sowed as much as we know to sow, then nothing?
I wish I had profound words, but I won’t sugar coat what God’s already said. In the midst of one of my trials, on day that was hard to endure, I opened my bible to Psalm 27 and read the first few verses:
“The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.” Psalm 27:1-2
Everything around me seemed dry and barren, yet God promised He would be my stronghold in the face of the trails that would stumble.
I closed my Bible and literally cried out rejoicing because I could taste the fruit of victory even thought I was still a barren branch on the front lines of the battlefield. As the Lord would have it, I needed to read a little more of the passage even though my Bible was closed and moments later, a friend emailed me this:
“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:13-14
Yes, wait.
Wait, because you know the fields will bring forth fruit in due time. We are renewed in strength as we wait and serve, rather than become exhausted from trying to take matters into our own hands. God’s promises will come to fruition. In the mean time, we survive by abiding – that is trusting and resting in God’s grace and power.
Discussion: Share a comment on the study. Has God brought forth fruit in your life recently? Praise HIM for the mighty work. If you are waiting to bear fruit, what is the Spirit asking YOU to do right where you are planted?
In your study guide, which will be available for download later today, you’ll discover more about your purpose in bearing fruit, what to do about "last year’s harvest" and more responses to the harvest that hasn't come.
