Hope in Drought

 ^{Luke 13: 6-9
6} 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. ⁷ 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?’
   ⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

There are times in life when we feel like we aren't accomplishing much for the Lord. Maybe we feel we don't even know what we are supposed to be doing to serve the Lord. We can pray and pray and seemingly receive no answer and so feel discouraged and heavily burdened. As a mom, often stuck at home with six small kids, this isn't a hard place to find myself. I know my service to the Lord begins with my care for my family and that's a good thing. But it's sometimes not a very fulfilling job. You don't get a thank you very often. You don't see results quickly and the day to day can get pretty mundane. It's not hard to try to look outside of where I've been placed to see if anything else might fulfill me and pretty soon my days are filled with activities and assignments that end up stressing more than fulfilling. 
  Jesus is reminding me, and you, that he takes care of us in those times where we feel a lack of productivity. He is not willing to cut us down quickly but instead, fills us, prunes us, and feeds us, so that we might produce fruit for his kingdom. He is patient and tends to us with utmost care and tenderness so that instead of feeling discouraged or weighed down with worries we can experience hope and anticipation in a time of drought. In those places in our lives, he is not leaving us alone or making us figure it out under our own power; he is spending more time with us than ever, molding and shaping us to produce the fruit he intended us to produce. 
  When we feel discouraged or heavily burdened we can lift those confidently to the Lord, knowing he is able and willing to take it from us. For he has promised his yoke is easy and his burden is light and we should carry his burden, not the world's. We need to be willing to allow the pruning and molding, surrendering all that we can't handle, which is everything. And when we humble ourselves and surrender, then he is made strong and will do wonderful things in our lives. 
    And when we feel as though he isn't hearing our cries for help, we need to stop and look closer. If we cry out to him that we feel alone and then a friend calls to chat, he has just answered that prayer. If we cry out that we feel burdened by things of this world and then read his word and he gives you a verse like this: Luke12: ²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well, realize he just answered that prayer. They may seem like small answers and won't necessarily solve everything all at once, but he's reminding us that he loves us and hears us and is working something in our lives for his glory and good. So, trust him whether your days are light and filled with joy or difficult and filled with worry, because in trusting we acknowledge that he is stronger and greater and knows better. And by doing that we can allow him to dig around us and fertilize us, preparing us for bearing fruit sometime in the near future.