Before kids, my husband and I fancied ourselves fruit tree farmers. The year we moved into the woods, we researched apple trees. We learned that the ones we wanted to grow needed two of the same kind of tree close to each other in order to produce apples. On a small hill in the front yard, we found the perfect place, planted two trees, and tried our best to keep them alive.

Funny how the Good Idea Fairy works. All these good ideas flooded our young married minds, but we had zero follow through. A year later, one of the apple trees died and neither of us remembered what kind we needed, so we left the other apple tree where it stood. It’s been eighteen years, and that apple tree is still alive but has never bore fruit. No matter how long we wait, it will never produce apples unless we get the correct tree to help propagate.

Kinda like us when we aren’t connected and dependent upon the vine. If we try to produce fruit on our own, it will never be productive in the long term. We must be attached to the vine. But interestingly, some fruit can take up to six years to produce.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

~John 15:5 NIV

We need to be patient in our walk with the Lord. Sometimes He gives us a calling and vision for the future, but we think it’s for the present. We must spend time daily plugged in, deeply attached to Jesus. Resting. Growing. Searching. Drawing from His refreshment. Apart from Him, we can do nothing of substance or value for the kingdom. And if we try to rush the growth, rush the fruit, rush the learning—we will miss the promise He has for us.

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

~Lamentations 3:25 ESV

As a baby learns to roll over, crawl, and then walk, we believers must go through the growth stages, too. Salvation doesn’t mean we are ready to lead. We must learn who Christ is, what the tenets of the faith are, and finally, what it means to wait until we are ready to produce God’s amazing fruit.

Make sure you are responding properly while you are waiting for the fruit. 

Dear Jesus, I get excited about You and forget I have so much learning to do. I must learn to trust, obey, believe, and follow. Please keep me connected to the vine and growing. And don’t let me get ahead of what You are doing. Amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2025: Waiting on the Fruit: Christy Bass Adams: All Rights Reserved