It’s Not Your Season
Scripture Reference: Psalms 1:1-6 (KJV)
Psalms 1:1-6 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the way of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate both day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
When I speak of seasons I am not simply talking about winter/spring/summer/fall but I am talking about whether or not it is time to bear fruit. Harvest time.
Once you realize that the season that I am referring to is not an annually occurring time of the year then you can come to realize and understand that perhaps the reason that you are not bearing fruit yet is because it is not your time (season) yet.
I am not an arbor culturist by any stretch of the imagination. However I would like to offer you my simple research on trees through my experience and observations of them over my lifetime.
We must understand that different trees bear fruit in different times. For instance it may take an orange tree two years to bear oranges while it may take an apple tree six years before you can enjoy the first apple.
There are also other factors that effect when a tree produces fruit:
The place it is planted.
When a tree is planted in dirt where there is no nourishment then there is a great chance that it will be slower to produce that is if it even produces. If the tree is planted where it can not get the proper amount of sunlight then it will not be productive.
Illustration:
In the back yard at my parents house to this very day is a small little apple tree. For years I ran around and played in the backyard and I never even noticed that the tree had the ability to bear apples. Then one year as I ran around in my parents back yard I noticed something growing from the tree. As I moved closer to investigate I noticed that it was an apple.
I could not believe it. I was so excited to know that there was an apple tree in my back yard. I could only think about going to my grandmothers house and climbing up in her tree and picking apples by the bagfuls. I was sure that in a couple of years that I would be able to do the same thing in my back yard.
Years past and it seemed like every once in a while I would see an apple bearing from that tree but never did I see the bagfuls of apples like what were at my grand moms house. Neither did the tree ever grow tall enough for me to be able to climb it. As I grew older I wondered what was wrong with that tree.
Eventually I began to realize a few difference in my tree and my grandparent’s tree. The first difference was the fact that because of all of the enormous trees that surrounded our little apple tree in my parent’s backyard our little apple tree was not able to get enough sunlight.
The next thing I realized that also because of the enormous trees roots that the little apple tree was losing the battle for nourishment in the ground. Another fact that I came to realize was the pollution factor. We lived in the city while my grand mom lived in the country.
There were so many cars and buses passing our street while at my grand moms house there was no way a car could even get close to that tree unless my grand dad drove his truck back there. The tree must have been truly suffering from a lack of oxygen.
Lack of sunlight
Not enough space for the roots to spread
Too much pollution in the air
How much room it has. When a tree has to battle another tree for root space then the growth of the tree could be stunted. Usually the larger or older tree will choke the younger weaker tree out.
Weather conditions. When a tree does not get the proper amount of rain then it will not properly bear fruit. Just because a tree is in unfavorable weather conditions to man does not mean that the weather conditions are unfavorable to the tree.
We have to notice that this tree was planted by a fertile, roomy, fair weather place.
Rivers of water. The tree had options as to where it could drink. Without having the ability to move anywhere God gave this tree the ability to have alternate water sources. Some are using this message to say that this confirms that they should leave the church organization that they are in right now. You really need to check again and see if you are truly using all of the nourishment sources that God has provided in the ministry that you are in now. Believe me if God planted you there he did not make a mistake. You are more than likely experiencing growing pains which are good for you.
Some of the saints of God have been misled to believe that since they are not bearing fruit then they are not from the good tree.
Although it is true that a good tree must bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.) It is also true that just because the tree is not bearing fruit right now may not mean that it is not a good tree.
Let’s look at trees:
1.)They take in our bad air (carbon dioxide) and breathe out good air (oxygen). We as people of God need to be able to do this as well. Can we do that? We need to be able to handle the bad spiritual things that people of the world throw our way and have the mind to give back the things of God (which are always good).
2.)Trees begin to grow roots first then they sprout up from the ground. While the root system is developing there will be no visible progress. In fact, if the planter lacks the proper patience he will give up too soon on the plant and stop nourishing it and never see profit from his work. It will not be that we have planted something that did not prosper. Neither will it be that God did not fulfill his word. The problem is that we gave up too fast on the tree and will never see the full potential of the tree. Are we allowing our roots to fully develop?
3.)Trees understand that if they are an orange tree then they will never bear apples. We need to understand that if God has called us to be an usher in the church then we have no business trying to be in the choir. We will find that even though we sound better than many of the people in the choir we just simply don’t blend in with the groove of things. It would be completely silly for a farmer of an orange orchid to plant oranges give the proper nourishment for oranges and come back at harvest time and expect to pick apples.
We get so upset when we are passed up on a job that we know that we can do better than the person who actually got the assignment. The problem, many times is that this person has planned and groomed themselves for the position while we thought that someone was going to give us something based on our desire to have it.
Do we even know what kind of a tree we are?
Do we consider ourselves useless because we are an apple tree in an area where everyone wants oranges?
We have to continue to stand and be the best apple tree around even if God has placed in in a place where everyone loves oranges. Even if the lumberjack (Satan) is looking at your roots and thinking about how easily he could chop you down with the quickness without anyone getting mad because you don’t fit in any way.
Some are saying that I am not a tree so I don’t have anything to do with this study. I never said you were a tree however God compared you to a tree (Verse 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.). Others are saying that there is no way that an orange will ever grow from my ear. I agree if an orange does grow from your ear then you should go and see a doctor immediately. Wordweb defines the fruit that I am talking about as; The consequence of some effort or action.
In verse 4 (Verse 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.) the writer compares the ungodly to chaff that the wind blows away. Keep in mind that this is the ungodly. This alone should give you the confidence to know that if you have the courage to stand for God then even the situation that you are facing right now will not blow you away.
CONCLUSION
A tree understands that it can only bare fruit in the proper season (set time).
We need to realize that sometimes it is not because we are not made from the good tree but it just may not be our season yet. We have to be patient that the glory of God may abound in our lives and that we may prosper to become the trees that God designed us to be in the first place.
Let’s pray
Thank You. May God continue to bless you and keep you. Amen
Your Friend
Minister Juan D. Lane
