This summer we have experienced some very unusual weather. It got really hot early on, then we had a drought that was followed by a rainy early August, then back into another drought that lasted into this fall. For many gardeners around here, it has been a difficult growing year.

Early on, things were going ok. The plants were growing and starting to put off fruit. But by mid-July, the heat and the drought had caused my plants to stop fruiting. I was watering them as best as I could and that kept the plants alive, but they were not producing anything. This went on for several weeks. I had a bunch of tomato plants, but not tomatoes. Some time in August, it got to the point where I was considering chopping everything down and being done with the garden for the year. I didn’t want to waste any more time tending to plants that weren’t producing anything. But I decided to just wait and give it a little more time. And still nothing happened. More weeks went by with nice, green plants void of any fruit.

Then one day at the start of September, I found little, green tomatoes about the size of a marble growing on the vines. The plants that had been growing fruitlessly still had a developed root system that soaked up the rains that came in early August. There was a break from the intense heat and the plants were able to start producing once again. By late September, I was picking ripe tomatoes again. Thank goodness I had not ripped the plants out of the ground when they were no longer fruitful or I would have missed the fruits that would come later.

Likewise, I have been in seasons of life that have felt fruitless. It feels like I’m in a spiritual drought and nothing is growing. In those times, it is more tempting than ever just to rip everything up and say this isn’t worth it. And I know that I am not the only one.

In those times, we need to strain our ears to hear the voice of God. He may be telling us to just hang in there a little while longer. Don’t give up on that person. Don’t quit that ministry. Don’t stop that spiritual discipline. The fruit will come. It may not be tomorrow or next week or in some cases you may not even be around to see it. But the fruit will come.

Hang in there weary gardener.
The fruit will come.