by Kelly Clark

Why do we tend to feel tossed about – by emotions, anxiety, circumstances – even as those who belong to Christ? Has anyone else felt this way? I’m hoping, in this brief reflection, to address why we can tend to feel “tossed about”. How do we deal with this tumult of emotions? Inspired by a passage mentioned by Pastor Bill in his Easter Sunday sermon and by the profusion of new life blooming outside our windows this spring, I am eager to take up these questions by looking at a few ways Scripture uses trees to paint a picture of our spiritual lives.

A Shrub in the Desert vs. A Tree Planted by Water

Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6 He is like a shrub in the desert,

and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in an uninhabited salt land.

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

8 He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:5-8

What a contrast! Of course we read this and are immediately drawn to the tree planted by water. If you’re a recovering perfectionist like me, it might be easy to read this passage moralistically: “Be like the tree, not the shrub!” But, of course, that sort of reading misses the gospel. Instead, like the woman at the well, we might ask, “How do we get this living water?” Who can trust the Lord like that? What a beatific vision!

You’re not alone if you think the tree planted by a stream of water, not even anxious during a year of drought, is a far reach for you to achieve. Since the Fall, we all find ourselves in the parched places of the wilderness. God had to expel Adam and Eve from the Garden into the wilderness, and that has been the place we have been born into ever since.

However, there is One who goes into the wilderness. He is there not because He belongs there due to rebellion (like us). Instead, He journeys into the wilderness in search of His lost sheep. He, of course, returns from the wilderness, something none of us could ever do on our own. He returns, triumphant over death.

Does that deeply rooted tree sound more appealing in the midst of a drought than the desert shrub? Does it seem humanely impossible to bear fruit in a season that strips us of earthly comforts? (It absolutely is.) How do we get to that stream? The key is Jesus, of course, and the answer is baked right in to this passage and many others. We can dwell in the well-watered place when we trust in Him (see also Ps. 1, Ps. 23, Ez. 47:12).

A Mustard Seed, a Little Leaven

18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Luke 13:18-21

Why does Jesus use these two images to describe the kingdom of God? Something both of these ordinary items have in common is their original size (tiny) and the rate at which they grow (slowly). I suppose a third characteristic might be that in both illustrations a person is involved and does something to help facilitate the growth, but ultimately can’t initiate the seed to germination or the leaven to rise. Another actor must be present to animate these items.

I’m gently chided by this passage when I think of my recent attitude: Why can’t I just be holier? More peaceful? More serene? More trusting? Why can’t the people who are dearest to me – who I live with – experience the reign of Christ in their lives in one fell swoop? Why do we have to irritate each other, sulk, repent, forgive, and begin anew? I see the Holy Spirit working, but sometimes He seems so slow.

The Kingdom of God is breaking through into this world right now in giant and also in seemingly tiny ways within my heart. And if you belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit is also at work in yours. It may seem painfully slow at moments, but if I may paraphrase John Piper, God is at work doing millions and millions of things. We may be aware of 3 or 4 of them.

Take heart, fellow Christian. Your Father is perfectly competent in every work that He does. He is the initiator of this heart-work. His work is guaranteed to be comprehensive and will one day be complete.

The Fig Tree

Repent or Perish

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Luke 13:1-9

In the passage that precedes the mustard seed and leaven, we read this potentially confusing passage about repenting and a debate about cutting down a seemingly barren fig tree. I think the main reason why this passage seems so discordant to me on the face is that this isn’t the most popular way to imagine Jesus. Here, we find our Savior not parsing words. (Of course, He never does). He lays out two paths for us: we can either seek forgiveness for our sin or we can die, eternally. Oh, if there was ever a more clear incentive for keeping short accounts!

What does the fig tree illustration have to do with repentance? I (and wiser people than me – thank you ESV commentaries) think this: the fig tree vignette puts the call to repentance in context. The Caller who exhorts me to repent of my sin, my lack of worship and lack of trust in Him, is the very same Gardener who pleads my case, buys me an unmerited extra year in the field, spends His own effort tilling the soil of my heart, fertilizing it, and enabling it to bear fruit.

Only by the Holy Spirit taking my hand and leading me to repentance will I be able bear fruit in this season uncertainty and drought… or in any season. How do I deal with the tumult of emotions churning through my brain and heart as each day feels different and newly strange? By running to Him. He is patient with me, and with you. And He will give the growth we long for – and the growth we don’t even realize we need.