From Spiritual Barrenness to Fruitfulness

Let’s breathe deeply while closing our eyes and imagining craving our most favorite fruit! Think about how good and pleasing it is to us! I know we imagine it to be fresh and satisfying! Let’s keep this image in our mind as we continue to read this article.  

I’d like to use the familiar parable of Luke 13: 6-9 in order for us to get an understanding of barrenness: “Then he told this parable: A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.  If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” 

When something is barren, it is empty, unyielding, unfruitful, unsuccessful, and useless. Spiritual barrenness is of no value and insignificant. We clearly see that the man was instructed to cut down the fig tree if it didn’t yield anything! What do we need to cut down because it hasn’t produced any good fruit? Think about those things that have lingered for years and haven’t produced any good. I’m talking about those things that we’ve pacified, nurtured, and fertilized and still nothing. What habits and issues need to be uprooted in order for us to bear bountiful spiritual fruit?  

Spiritual barrenness can hold up our blessings and hearts desires. It can also cause us to become stagnant in an unfruitful place in our lives. I’ve come to challenge us all to examine where we are in God. Now those of us that like to garden will understand these next statements. Like gardening, let’s identify our needs of uprooting our spiritual barrenness and pick the best soil consistency. Like the described parable, we have to make sure that we have the right soil. Jesus and His character of love and goodness is the solid foundation that we need to be successful and bearing bountiful spiritual fruit. Always remember that God desires to take us from spiritual barrenness to fruitfulness.