Unripe Fruit

Laura Booz: Oh, it was summertime, and the old apple tree in the backyard was just covered in blossoms. I watched as the days went by and the blossoms turned into adorable little green golf balls. 

As the fruit grew, I prepared my recipes for apple sauce, apple butter, apple rings, apple cake, apple pie. 

Late one summer day while the kids played on the swing set, I decided it was time to make a big pitcher of nice, cold apple juice. 

Hi there. You’re listening to Expect Something Beautiful with Laura Booz. 

It was the perfect timing. The kids would be starting back to school soon, our schedules would be getting hectic, so no time like the present to harvest those apples. 

I dug our fruit picker pole out of the shed and got to work. 

Now, I haven’t told you yet, but the apples weren’t quite as rosy red as they had been in the past. Actually, they were more of a greenish hue. Yeah, they were green, quite green. They didn’t twist and pull off the branch quite as easily as they should have. 

So, maybe I was a little over eager, a little early with the fruit picker pole. But apples are apples, right? Honestly, even if they weren’t really ready to eat, they would be fine if they were just juiced. 

I was excited. I placed a lawn chair under the lilac bush and peeled apples while the kids ran for the bedsheets that were hanging on the clothes line. 

I gathered up the bowls and followed the kids inside where they pretended they were camping under the kitchen table while I cored and sliced the apples. Then, every child in the neighborhood, it seemed, gathered around on stools and helped me press the apple slices into the vintage juicer I had been saving for this moment. 

It was odd, because we didn’t get as much juice as I was imaging, but no matter, I poured the juice into half pint glasses one for each of us, and we raised them high in the air and offered a toast to the apple tree. 

What a day! I had worked hard, and now I intended to sit down and enjoy this moment of well-deserved refreshment. 

Ah . . . I took a sip. Eww, it tasted dusty, dull, raw. It tasted kind of like, like unripe apples. 

What a disappointment! 

Not only had I wasted a whole day of labor, but I had also wasted the apples. If I had just left them on the tree until the proper time, they would have been juicy and sweet, just right for a refreshing glass of apple juice. 

Eww . . . that mealy taste in my mouth reminds me of when I tried to harvest spiritual fruit before it’s ripe. It reminds me of when I rush ahead of God’s good timing.

Hey, something needs to be done? So, I squeeze it into my schedule, and I get it done. 

Someone needs to be taught? So, I teach them everything . . . now.

Someone needs to be corrected? I set them straight, before it’s too late. 

Someone needs to be served? I meet their needs, pronto. 

Someone’s hurt? I fix them up. 

I don’t pause to ask the Lord for wisdom, or help, or clarification. I don’t take time to fully consider my actions in light of Scripture or to consult wise advisors. I just move ahead based on what I think is right, when I think it’s right. 

I want things to go God’s way, so I make things go God’s way. And then I wonder why things didn’t quite go God’s way? 

I just want to be productive for the Lord. But without waiting for His wisdom and His timing, I do more harm than good. 

I end up wondering, Where’s the spiritual fruit? Where is the love in this hectic season? Where is the joy in my to-do list? Where’s the peace in my relationships? Where’s the patience? Where’s the self-control? 

This comes up a lot as I raise our six kids, not just when I am making apple juice, but let’s say my child does something wrong or immature, or childish and I don’t need to jump in right away, but my impulse sure is to set things straight, immediately. To step in there and say what I’ve gotta say about the injustice or the laziness or the disobedience. To stand at the podium and teach that lesson, no matter how long it takes or how glazed over my child’s eyes are. 

But here’s what I’m learning, when I don’t wait for God to work, at the soul level in both of us, I don’t get very far. Instead, my child and I get swept up in emotion, the conflict escalates, and I walk away wondering, How did I mess that up so badly? 

If I pray, instead of react, I have seen the Lord transform my anger into love. I have seen the Lord ripen my impatience into patience, in that thirty-second pause. 

Sometimes, I give Him a hard time, and it takes much longer. Sometimes, He asks me to wait much longer. But the point is, when I wait for Him, I am so much more likely to effectively communicate the love of Christ to my child. 

And when I wait on the Lord, He works in my child’s heart, so that when the time is right for us to talk, I am amazed by the good fruit the Lord has already grown. 

Oh, left to my own devices, I so quickly size up a situation, judge people, and conclude that this as good as it’s going to get, so let’s harvest the fruit while we can. Let’s force our way through. Let’s cut our ties. Let’s give up. Let’s wrap up this relationship, cancel the project, control the situation, stop hoping, stop praying.

But here’s the thing, God may not be finished yet. The story may not be over yet. The fruit may not be ripe yet. 

Our heavenly Father is the Lord of the harvest. He prepares the soil of our hearts. He decides what seeds of truth must be planted. He sends His Word to water the ground. He works on the soul level where He alone can go. He prepares circumstances. His timing is perfect, and Scripture says that God alone gives the growth. 

We’ve seen Him at work, haven’t we? Developing circumstances and changing people’s hearts, including our own, in ways that we cannot predict or control. Then when He says, “The fruit is ripe,” we are always amazed, because without fail, it’s perfect. The fruit is far more beautiful, far sweeter than we had hoped or imagined. 

We’re reminded once again that our most important task in the good work He’s given us to do, is to keep our eyes on Him. And to wait for His timing, because His timing is always perfect. 

On that day when the kids were playing on the swing set and I got a hankering for apple juice, the best thing I could have done for those apples was to wait. 

As you’re waiting on the Lord, you need encouragement. Revive Our Hearts provides it each weekday. As you listen to the biblical teaching and conversations, you’ll be encouraged to say “Yes, Lord.” You’ll be encouraged that God’s way is good, and you can trust His plans. 

To learn more about the Revive Our Hearts daily podcast, just visit ReviveOurHearts.com. 

And to read more stories about how the Bible intersects with real life, I hope you’ll visit my personal blog, LauraBooz.com. 

Oh, and if you’re looking for more stories and encouragement about motherhood, I hope you’ll pick up a copy of my book, which is called Expect Something Beautiful: Finding God’s Good Gifts in Motherhood. 

This podcast is a production of Revive Our Hearts calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.