Lately I've been wondering whether or not God has any use
for me. Specifically, I've been pretty self-critical about my own apparent lack
of spiritual fruit.
As I've shared recently, the Lord has reminded me that
His love for me is absolute and unconditional. But there was still more He
wanted to show me.
Last Sunday morning, one of our dear sisters in the Lord
shared something that God had been showing her as she worked in her garden. She
said, "Every time I look at our lemon tree, I think of you, Keith."
We had a few laughs about how the sour lemons symbolized
my pessimistic tendencies, but then she continued. "A few months ago you
had shared with us about how you really wanted for God to show you the fruit of
your ministry, and ever since I've felt like God was showing me that your time
is coming. Just like this lemon tree. The fruit isn't ripe yet, but those
lemons are just so big. They are going to be huge and ripe very soon. I feel
like this is God's way of saying that you will see your fruit very soon."
That really blessed me. This assurance came out of the
blue, at a time when I was already doubting God's love for me and his
unconditional acceptance.
That evening she emailed me a photo (the one attached to
this article) to show me just how large the lemons were. She said, "Keith,
the lemon tree is in a pot, and from the picture you can't see
much of the fruit. But you can see the relative size of the
lemons...and they're starting to turn--can you see the beginning of yellow?
Lord, give Keith fruit in his life that will remain!"
So, while I'm not totally sure why the Lord chose lemons
as my metaphorical fruit, I do hope that there's room in his kingdom for a nice
tall glass of lemonade in the coming days.
Hopefully this encourages you as well to place your hope
in Him for whatever fruit may come in your life. Honestly, the process of
bearing fruit is the work the Lord does in and through us. It's really nothing
we can control, other than to cooperate with Him in that process.
“Jesus said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A
man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up,
the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil
produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the
head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the
harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)
-kg
1 comment:
Thanks for this Keith. It will encourage others, I'm sure, just as it encourages you.
I have a lemon tree in a pot too. Mine is still in the garden but will have to come inside soon. It also has large lemons that are beginning to turn yellow. Seems there's fruit everywhere you look!
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