Which season are you in?

Psalm 1: The Tree

A mighty fruit tree grew in the middle of a pasture.  No one knew who planted the tree, but every season the tree delighted everyone with its tasty fruit. The tree enjoyed providing fruit for all the animals in the pasture and the farmer.  The horses, sheep, dogs, chickens, and every animal nearby could freely enjoy its fruit. 

All was well. The tree grew more beautiful and more fruitful each year. It felt powerful, popular even. Neighbors would come and enjoy bushels of fruit and excitedly plan the delicious desserts they would make. The farm cat would climb its branches and the squirrels would playfully jump from branch to branch in the sunshine. The fruit tree looked up to the sun and relished in its warmth and beauty every day.

Things were about to change for the beautiful tree. One stormy night a tornado whipped through the fruit tree's branches and destroyed all the fruit. Branches twisted and fell to the ground! Every piece of fruit was scattered, smashed into the ground, or carried away.  

The tree was sad but did not worry because it knew who it was. It was a fruit tree. The trunk was solid and the roots stretched deep. The next season, the tree produced more fruit. Everyone again enjoyed the fruit and the tree was happy.

In the middle of the season, some nearby goats wandered into the pasture. They spotted the tree and decided to have some fun. They pulled off all the fruit and ate it all.  Then they laughed at the tree for not having any fruit. The tree again was sad, but it still knew it was a fruit tree.  NO ONE could make it stop producing fruit. The next season, it produced more fruit and again fed the neighborhood.

Eventually, the farmer grew tired of the neighbors asking for fruit. He was weary of everyone crossing his pasture and picking the fruit.  He decided to put a stop to it.  He took his axe and chopped off all the tree's branches.   The tree was completely brokenhearted. The animals all laughed at the tree and said, "You're no fruit tree, you're just a stump!"  Several years went by and there was no fruit. The neighbors no longer visited.  No animals played under the tree or jumped in its branches.  The farmer acted like the tree was no longer there. The fruit tree had never felt so alone.

In spite of the hurt and pain, the tree knew it was still a fruit tree. It dug its roots deeper into the earth.  It took some time to heal, and continued to soak in the nutrients from the soil. Day after day it gazed up at the sun and felt some comfort in the sun's warmth.

One early spring morning, as the first tulips were piercing through the dirt, the tree was awakened by the sound of the animals. They had gathered around and looked in amazement at a new branch springing up from the tree. Signs of new life were appearing. Within a few days, several new branches began to appear. There was still no fruit that season, but the tree was regrowing. It was keeping the channels open through its root system and continuing to bring nourishment to the new branches and budding leaves. 

The fruit tree was encouraged and knew it was still a fruit tree.

The next season, the tree produced a small bucket of fruit and the animals and even the farmer enjoyed a snack from the fruit tree. The tree dug its roots deeper still and continued to find nourishment in the soil.

The following season, the tree was in full bloom, and produced enough fruit to feed the whole neighborhood again.  The farmer decided to once again allow the neighbors to stop by and enjoy the fruit from the old tree. 

In the neighboring pastures, twelve new fruit trees sprang up from the seeds that had been scattered during the tornado. The whole community was now fed from the trees that were planted during the tornado. The old fruit tree wept with joy as it realized the storm had increased its fruitfulness by spreading the seeds far and wide. As the warm sun and gentle breezes once again caressed its fruitful branches, the tree thought to itself, "It's so good to be a fruit tree!"

When we know who we are in Christ, and we find our identity in who God says we are, we continue producing fruit.  We are a fruit tree and we produce fruit.  The storms of life come and steal our fruit, but it only serves to spread the seeds far and wide and plant more fruit trees. The next season we bear more fruit.  The neighborhood critters may devour our fruit and laugh at us. But the next season we bear more fruit and feed them again. The farmer may try to chop us down, but we are a fruit tree and in a few seasons we again bear fruit.

I now understand an important truth.  The pasture has a beautiful creek flowing through it.   The tree was planted by the water with a fresh supply of nutrients entering the soil during all the seasons. The tree's roots keep growing deeper because its source of nourishment continues to flow during the good seasons and during the terrible seasons.

Psalm 1 admonishes us that the righteous will flourish and continue to be fruitful because they are planted firmly in the Word of God, nourished day and night.  When we find our identity in knowing "I am who God says I am," our roots continue to grow deeper even in the losing seasons. For we know God says we are created in His image, we are a child of the Creator, that He has a great purpose for us here on this earth.

We may experience some hard seasons. We may have been shamed, mocked, abused or even unwanted.  We may have experienced great losses. We may believe we are unworthy of being loved. Of being heard and seen. We may feel powerless, weak, ineffective, insecure, abandoned, or lonely. If this is you, I'd like to remind you that you can find out who God says you are and base your identity on who He created you to be. The way to do this is to dig your roots deep into the nutritious soil fed by the spring of the Water of Life. Get into the Word. Especially during the bad seasons. Look up to your Creator. Your fruit will grow again.