Lessons from A Blueberry Bush
We have about 6 or 7 blueberry bushes that are the size of small trees and, every year, I look forward to picking the berries they provide. Unfortunately though, we usually cannot pick enough to last us through the winter and we suffer through many months of store-bought blueberries! However, this only serves to make our home-grown blueberries more of a treasure and picking them more of a pleasure. Many times, I have found solace and heard God’s voice as I have stood among the berry-laiden branches and it has become a special place where it is easy to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:!0).
Today, as I was using a short ladder to reach the berries that are normally out-of-reach, I saw some that were a good distance beyond the ones I could easily reach from my perch. Bound and determined to pick as many as I could, I began pulling branches down and pushing other branches out of the way in order to bring the berries I saw closer. The sun was hot and the branches scratched me a lot but the prize I collected was worth it.
Suddenly, I realized that my experience paralleled this earthly life. Those who are believers “…press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called…” us “…heavenward in Christ Jesus…” (Phillipians 3:14 NIV-1978 Revision), just as I was determined to pick as many blueberries as I could. We want real spiritual fruit that is worked hard for and sweated over - not the ‘store-bought’ pleasures that those who are lost mistake for real fruit. Branches scratch us, the heat wearies us, losss and rejection hurt us, and illness and danger wear us down. Yet, all these things are worth it because of the meaning and value of the prize that we are after.
This season, we weren’t expecting to get many berries. The buds endured multiple frosts and, for the first time ever, beavers gnawed off some of the branches. Disappointed and wishing I could never eat another store-bought blueberry, I decided to pick our berries more consistently than last year so that, hopefully (although probably unrealistically), we would have enough to last us through next winter. Although whether I reach that goal or not is yet to be seen, as the picking season started, I began to feel like our trees were producing more berries than the number of buds that had survived. In fact, there was one three-day span where I kept being able to pick more berries than I had picked the day before!
In the same way, even when all seems lost, if we look in the container that we are hoping to fill with spiritual fruit, our container will always be a little fuller than the last time we looked. Even when we don't feel like we’ve done much, each smile and each loving action keep our container filling with ‘blueberries’. God even uses the ‘blueberries’ that fall through our fingers - our disappointments, our poor choices, and the things we wish we could do over again. Indeed, God works all things together for good - for His glory - and sustains “…all things by His powerful Word…” (Hebrews 1:3 NIV-1978 Revision).