Do You Ever Question Your Effectiveness?

God, our Father, whispered to me, "There was nothing wrong with the apple tree."

I was standing in the quiet of the morning, finishing a coffee, looking into the backyard.

The divine message arrived during a challenging season for our church. We were navigating the post-Covid era, grappling with a lean budget, and witnessing volunteers relocate elsewhere. Attracting new faces seemed like an uphill battle.

I was questioning both the health of our church and my effectiveness as its pastor. The ministries appeared to bearing no fruit. It was a time marked by loss.

God's commentary on the apple tree held profound significance for me. He knew my disappointment in the previous year when the Golden Delicious tree in my back yard had produced only five apples.

Now, I stood looking at the same tree loaded with an abundant harvest. During that prior year of minimal harvest, I had never questioned the health of the tree or if my green thumb had turned a different shade.

I knew what had happened. It had lost its blooms before being pollinated due to wind and heavy late rain. The Granny-Smith Tree had enjoyed an abundant harvest that year because it had finished blooming before the oppressive weather hit.

The tree had simply missed its opportunity to bear a harvest in that year. Likewise, our church had missed some opportunity for pollination due to Covid and other circumstances. It did not necessarily mean anything was wrong, just miscarried potential.

I heard the Lord say, "it was a gap year harvest." There was nothing to be done but wait it out, live through it, and be ready for the next spring.

The revelation moved me to tears as I grappled with doubts about my leadership and the church itself. God gently reminded me that I had done nothing different during that gap year. I had cared for the Golden Delicious apple tree like all the other fruit trees under my care, believing that a harvest would come in future years.

Almost instantly, I recalled the story of the unfruitful fig tree from Luke 13:6-17. The Master of the garden wanted to uproot it because it had not produced fruit. But the gardener pleaded for one more year to nurture it, to give it a chance to bear fruit through the natural principles of sowing and reaping.

I offered a prayer, "Father, help me be faithful. Empower me to keep doing the right things for the church even when a harvest does not come." That day, I recommitted myself to investing in our staff and systems, to nourishing the roots, even though the opportunity for a harvest in that year had passed.

It should never surprise us that the timeless principles set in motion by God's Creation Order continue to shape our reality. Our staff's consistent faithfulness in caring for the fruit-producing aspects of the church began to yield results. It was a year of hard work and patient waiting, but it paid off. In my 21 years of pastoring the same church, this has been our most fruitful season on record. The Biblical truth holds: "Do not grow weary in well-doing for in due season you will reap a harvest" (Galatians 6:9-10).