A Lesson from the Strawberry
It is the beginning of summer. There are many things I love about summer, but there is one thing that tops them all. Fruit is in season. I can go to any grocery store or better yet a farmer’s market and guarantee that the fruit I buy will be sweet and juicy. After a long winter and a slow transition to spring, it is these simple things that excite me.
Every year, however, sometime around early March when the weather starts to turn my body starts craving that fresh fruit. I feel the sun again and I jump to spring and summer. This year was no different. The first sign of spring and I found myself in grocery store produce aisle. The strawberries looked so good. They were big and bright red staring at me from their neat packaging. I could taste them in my mind, and I could hardly wait to taste them in my mouth. I paid for them and then raced home ready to be transported to warm summer days. I got home, washed my strawberries, closed my eyes, and took my first bite.
“What was this?” I did not even want to swallow. There was nothing transformative about that bite. I looked at the strawberry in my hand. It was bright red and looked like it should be juicy, but it was not at all. It had no flavor and it was crunchy. Yuck! How could something that looked so amazing be so lacking? That is when God reminded me of this verse.
Psalm 1:3 “And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity].” (AMP)
The problem with my March strawberry is that it was not in season. It was forced to mature quickly under bright lights in an artificial environment. May strawberries have been allowed the slow underground growth of the winter months. They have ripened gradually cycling through days and nights, rain, and drought all the while remaining attached to the vine. The roots and the vine provided the strawberry with the nutrients needed for each environment. The redness and juiciness of a May strawberry is the result of natural design of its Creator rather than a quick, artificial ripening. I promptly threw away my pint of March strawberries and decided it was worth the wait until May.
Oh, my friends, how I stood in the kitchen pondering this lesson. This freedom journey can be so hard. The winter months drag on for what seems like forever. I so quickly become impatient and jump to quick fixes. I conjure up behaviors that make my heart look free or my own plans to speed along this process. The longer I walk with Jesus toward freedom the more I realize that there is no set plan there is only the Creator’s design. He designed us to be attached to Him, to ripen and bear fruit according to His plan. Yes, His way is slower than any of us want but it is the only way that will last. Our plans are only artificial just like the March strawberry. On the outside, it shows all the signs of freedom but that is as far as it goes. Artificial plans only lead to shame and frustration. What a relief to realize that it is not up to us come up with the path forward. The Creator knows the created; the Father knows His child; the Designer knows the process to get you to where He designed you to be.
Precious ladies, His desire for me and you is the same: to be attached to Him; but your fruit and your season is as unique as you are. Do not compare your fruit and your journey to someone else. Their story is still being written and so is yours. Let us stay connected to the Vine, trust His process, and let Him do the slow work in us so that when our season comes, the fruit of the Spirit in us causes others to crave its sweetness.
John 15:5 “I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (NIV)
Tammy Boyd
FINDINGbalance Prayer Group Coordinator & Group Leader. Mom of Boys. Family Chauffeur. Lover of Laughter. Community Creator. Freedom Chaser. Overcomer.
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