Lesson from the Fig Tree

Thursday.......6-19-25

         Over in the far corner of our property stands a fig tree that has been a part of our landscape for at least eight years. It has been a patient little thing, quietly growing and just minding it's own business, but would you believe that in all of these years, it has never produced a single fig.  

Year after year, I watched it leaf out in the Spring and it looked hopeful, but not a single piece of fruit ever came. 

Until.....this....year!!

To my absolute delight, this summer it surprised me with an abundance of figs. Honestly, I had to do a double take when I first saw the fruit. 

So what changed?  Sunshine!!!

For the longest time, it was overshadowed by a big mimosa tree that stood nearby. The fig tree never got enough sunlight to truly thrive. But then a few years ago, the Big Texas ice storm swept though and damaged the mimosa tree. A large section had to be cut back. Finally, the sunlight pours in and our Fig tree is totally happy.  

(Oh wow y'all.....God keeps speaking these little lessons in me, and the best thing is......these little lessons keep showing up in the simple things in my everyday life.)

Sometimes we are doing all we can.....we are rooted, we are growing and we are hanging in there.....but yet, nothing seems to be fully blooming. The fruit we were expecting just doesn't come and we feel as if we are on the edge of giving up. 

BUT....what if the problem isn't us? What if we are not blooming, simply because we are too busy standing in the shade? Sometimes we need a little more light, a little more Sonshine, and a little more space to grow into what we were made to do and to be.  

The lesson I got from this is:  Don't give up on something just because it's taking longer than we thought it should take.  There just might be a huge harvest waiting for us on the other side.  

Questions we need to ask ourselves: 

1. Is there something in my life that I've been tempted to give up on too soon?

2. Where might I need more light? Where might I need more truth? 

3. How has God been preparing me in ways I didn't even notice?  

###My lesson from the Fig tree.....

shug.