Out of Season

"The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' And His disciples heard him say it." Mark 11:12-14

Not too long after that, the disciples passed that same fig tree and noticed that it was all withered up. You kind of feel a little sorry for the fig tree. After all, it wasn't the season for figs. Why so harsh, Jesus? Cut the fig tree some slack. 

But what if we are actually expected to produce fruit out of season? What if Jesus calls and enables us, like the fig tree, to produce fruit even when it is not in season?

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)

This fruit that we produce is the a direct result of the power of the Spirit within us, which does not fade in and out through different seasons of life. Through both thick and thin, both pain and peace, both joy and suffering, both victory and defeat, we are expected and empowered to produce this kind of fruit. 

Maybe this is what Paul means when he talks about the "peace that passes understanding" in Philippians 4:7. It is a peace that just does not make sense. It is almost explainable. It is a peace that remains even when everything about the situation cries chaos. It is peace that permeates every part of your being when there is no reason to be a peace from the world's perspective. It is a fruit that is there when it should not be. It is a peace that is out of season. 

The same is true of joy and love and patience and faithfulness and all the others. Because of who Christ is and the relationship we have with Him, we are free to be joyful in times of stress and sadness. We are free to love so drastically that the people around us ask, "How in the world can that Christian have such love in a situation like this?" We are free to show patience in situations where patience simply doesn't make sense to the world. We can be gentle when it is natural to be brash, and we can be faithful when everyone else is faithless to us. 

Jesus calls us to produce fruit out of season. And when we do, the world will see it and pluck it and and eat of it, tasting the goodness of God in the brokenness of this world. And they will ask how this can be, and we will have the opportunity to share with them the gospel, the good news - the greatest news about Jesus Christ and salvation through Him. 

May Christ not find us only with green leaves, but also with branches loaded, heavy, and sagging with fruit for the glory of God and the sake of the gospel...even when it is out of season.