Bearing Fruit or Fruiting Bare?

“Bearing Fruit or Fruiting Bare?”

1 Kings 19:14-15a Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword.  And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”  The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness…”

          I know, I know.  This is a blog about fruits so I am supposed to quote Jesus saying, “I am the vine and you are the branches…” or maybe Paul defining the fruits of the Spirit.  But that isn’t really what this is about.  I want to talk today about the perils of bearing fruit and what happens when we are not cautious to daily take care of the tree… or vine if that is a reference that makes you more comfortable in fruit talk.

          The Bible tells us the story of Elijah in 1^st and 2^nd Kings and I think his story is the one that most aptly gives us this warning.  Elijah was a tremendously powerful prophet but lived at a time when the Lord was being greatly dismissed from the people of Israel.  He was faithful to do everything that was asked of him from the Lord.  He spoke many wise things by God’s own words and even performed several miracles in the land by the power of God working through his hands.  Yet here he sat on this desolate mountain top awaiting a refreshing word from the God he followed faithfully only to hear God say, “Go back to the wilderness.”  Ouch!

          You see, even in bearing bountiful fruits in the name of the Lord, Elijah was showing unsettling signs.  Signs that became evidence that his faith was being shaken, even as God cast down fires from heaven at his beaconing and raised the dead at the sound of Elijah’s request.  So what were these signs you ask?  There were two, so let’s look at them both.

          First, Elijah was afraid.  Not that fear alone is a sign of faithlessness, but Elijah’s fear was one that was perceiving a threat that was not there.  Jezebel said she was going to have him killed.  That part was very real, but that isn’t why Elijah ran.  Not at least according to his own words.  When God said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:13) Elijah quoted our core verse for this lesson reasoning the he fled because “I alone am left”.  What is wrong with that?  Well, he wasn’t alone.  He had with him his servant, he had been given provision by angels, by ravens and by a widow.  Shortly after this passage we see that he was also aware of a contemporary prophet in Obadiah who had protected two caves full of prophets from Jezebel.  Then God mentions 7,000 others that He was raising up for Himself in addition to Elisha who would be his successor.  He was not popular, but he was certainly not alone.  Fear can make us perceive things as being quite different from what actually is.  Elijah ran because he was “alone” despite having a bare minimum of 7,102 plus the angelic army by his side.

          Second, Elijah believed he had to do everything on his own.  He certainly recognized that he accomplished nothing but by the hand of God, but what he did not recognize was that he could have accomplished nothing if on by himself.  He would have starved if not for the widow and her son, his messages would never have reached Ahab without Obadiah, and he wasn’t going to change the hearts of the Israelites by himself.  Even the Lord’s fires consuming the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah on Mt. Carmel had only a minimal effect.  In fact, the people of Israel would not have their hearts changed in the life of Elijah at all but it was to be after him that change would occur.  And it is surely exhausting to try and change the entire world on your own while blinded to the help God has sent.

          Here Elijah was on the mountaintop asking that God would just kill him and get it over with.  But as he pleads with God to end his misery, God says, “Go back into the wilderness.”  With what does God equip him to muster up the strength to go?  Does he give him a flaming sword or a horse with wings?  Nope.  He parenthetically says, “You are not alone.”  He tells him that there are others, and that finally brings me to my point.

          You see, we are called to bear fruit.  We are called to give that fruit away over and over because it is God who provides the growth and so the source is limitless.  And as Christians we believe that and hold that truth very dear but then, often times, we find that is not in line with the experiences we have in reality.  That isn’t to say it isn’t true, that is only to explain that sometimes things sneak into our lives unknown to us that begin to tamper with our fruit production such that we are no longer bearing fruit, but we are fruiting bare.  However, since we are just going about life the same as always, we stubbornly continue giving that fruit away over and over because that is just what we are supposed to do; God will provide we reason.  Friends come to us and need a word, the lost are all around us and we have a desire to reach them in some way, loved ones suffer and we are willing to give them anything they need even if it hurts. 

Over and over, we invite one after the other to come take of the fruits… but then it happens.  One day, we invite someone to take of the fruit and there is nothing there.  A neighbor needs to talk about a sorrow they are enduring and rather than having our attention all we can think about is, “How long will this be?” or “I swear I heard this same story last week.”  A friend wants to borrow your truck and you know that is code for can you help me move but instead of offering you say, “I will leave the keys in the potted plant out front.”  Your son experiences a teachable moment and you just let it pass because, “I just want one night where nobody asks me for anything.”  Not only has the constant production of fruit ceased almost completely, but now when those invitees come to take and find nothing, you offer them a leaf… and then a branch.  Before long you have been stripped bare and you can feel that you have nothing left to give.  You have become a stump.

We have all been there, don’t feel guilty.  But how is it that this limitless fruit indeed has limits?  Is it because you are not following the Lord or because you are not reading His word enough, or you are not worshipping hard enough?  Do you need to go on a 40-day fast and prayer diet or surrender to a 3-month foreign mission?  Maybe, but that sounds a lot like trying to do it all alone like Elijah doesn’t it?  And if you have nothing to offer your son, how is it you believe you would have something to offer a foreign nation?  Perhaps instead you need to gather around with a group of believers and tell them what is going on.  Receive some encouragement from people who have been where you are.  Let someone in on what has been distressing you.  Elijah was hiding in a cave by himself while there were two caves full of other prophets out there going through the same exact thing.  Maybe instead of running from Jezebel we need to have our faith renewed by finding our Elisha who emphatically exclaims to Elijah 2^nd Kings 2:6b “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”  Maybe instead of asking for God to just kill us we need to politely say “No” to being one of the 20 percenters at the church and instead be revived before we get back into the game. 

Now, I am saying all of this with the understanding of your maturity.  I am not at all saying that you should only do what you feel like doing, but what I am saying is that you should take a look at your toolbox before agreeing to build a house.  If you are a few wrenches short, perhaps God is not calling you to fix the car but instead to invite a mechanic to also partake.  You don’t have to do it all alone and if it doesn’t get done it isn’t necessarily your fault.

Secondly, don’t let that which is ungodly sneak in and cause you to perceive things as they are not.  Elijah was not alone, perhaps he just needed to get back into metaphorical wilderness with the rest of the prophets.  You are not too busy… perhaps there are godly changes that need to be made in your life.  You have not been abandoned… perhaps you were freed.  You are not useless… perhaps you were doing something for which you were not created.  You are not too old… perhaps your ministry is evolving towards wisdom.  You are not barren… perhaps it is time to look around you and see where God is already working and go be a part of that.  You are not fruitless… perhaps you are being called to involve others in the fruits God is producing.

Isaiah was called to render the hearts of the people insensitive to the Lord; producing a stump out of which would come the shoot of Jesse, but not in his lifetime.  Elijah was called to slap around the monarchy of Israel so that the prophets would arise and win back God’s people, but not while he remained on Earth.  Moses was called to lead God’s people out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the promised land, but not while he had breath in his lungs.  They each had very difficult ministries, but they were not alone.  Isaiah had his wife and sons, Elijah had Elisha among many others, and Moses had Joshua, Jethro and his wife.  Although I have not done a complete scan, I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who did what they did all by themselves even if God were at their side.  For completions sake, even Jesus required not only the Father but twelve companions on which He relied in order to have the strength to bear the fruit He bore.  If Christ alone were not even alone, why should we be an exception?  If we try, we are likely to be giving away branches instead of the fruit; the stump which gets left behind is still good for offering a seat on which to rest for the weary, but God has plenty of stones for that.  He has proposed a much greater and more living ministry for you. 

Worship God regularly, read His word daily, stay fervent in prayer, take that sabbatical and do not neglect these things.  But don’t forget that the tree God has planted (you) is human, and as humans we have the need for companionship, for encouragement, for an ear to hear us vent, a shoulder to cry on, and a loving touch to ensure us that we are not alone.  In that soil, even in our fallenness, we will bear much fruit.

Resetting the Bore

“Resetting the Bore”

Titus 1:16a They profess to know God but by their deeds they deny Him,

          Living in Houston, you can’t help but pick up a term or two from the oil and gas industry.  I suppose I could have called this “Fracking For Jesus” or “Roughneck Religion” but that would have just been cute for cuteness sake and would not have reflected the thoughts I want to convey to you today.  Also, I figured if I put “boring” in the title, people won’t be too disappointed if it turns out this blog isn’t so great.  So what does drilling have to do with Titus 1:16?  “Well,” give me a “caisson’s” length of “horizontal deviation” and I will “directionally drill” to the “target zone.” 

          In the drilling industry, when the geologists are seeking to reach a target that is well beneath the surface, they have to allow for and even predict a certain amount of the afore mentioned horizontal deviation because the drill bit doesn’t react the same with every soil or rock type it encounters.  The upper sediments are usually loose and easy to drill but as the boring rods reach bedrock depth and below, the earth begins to wreak havoc on drilling equipment and, in traditional boring methods, can dictate the direction of the overall borehole.  At extreme depths, the borehole will encounter other difficulties such as fault line slippage and even rock that is so hot that it essentially flows rather than providing resistance to the bit. 

Between 1970 and 1994, the Russian’s efforted reaching the Earth’s mantle by drilling the Kola Superdeep Borehole near the Russia/Norway border.  Though the borehole took many years and encountered even more troubles, they eventually reached a record depth that still stands today.  Some 7.5 miles (40,230’) beneath the surface, the Russian’s finally had to call it quits.  Even though the unpredicted heat (356º F) did not allow them to reach their target depth of 15,000 meters, a successful hole of 40,230’ is astounding to imagine.  Using this as our case example, this 9” borehole was insignificant when you consider that small amount of steel twisting in 356º temperatures 7.5 miles beneath the surface.  As a result, the horizontal deviation in this hole reached as much as 10,000 feet (close to 2 miles) off-center from the drilling rig on the surface.  On a few occasions they even reset the borehole and tried again, but ultimately the same forces twisting it crooked to begin with just twisted it similarly once more as very few changes to the process were attempted.

          Now, you are both wise in the ways of drilling and properly prepped for where I am going with all of this.  “His Next Rung” has not had a post since October of 2017.  I would love to say that life just got away from me, the new job kept me busy, I was off somewhere doing greater things, or perhaps I was on some sort of sabbatical.  None of those would be true.  So what has been happening for the past two years?  I hit some dense sediment, the rig failed, the drill bit fractured, the rods twisted, the heat was too intense, I noticed that secondary forces had begun to guide my way and so I pulled back to reassess.  Do I continue drilling in the same direction or has my horizontal deviation led me so far off course that it was time to completely reset the bore?

          You see, the words from Titus 1:16 began to ring in my ears and penetrate my conscience.  Despite my attempts to serve God and make Christ the center of everything, my deeds just did not seem to be lining up.  Titus 1:16 told me that there are those that profess to know God but that their deeds show otherwise.  While I professed to know God, and even to teach others to do the same, I had to face the reality that my deeds were not in alignment.  The stories of faith that used to roll off of my lips started to become stale because they were stories from many year’s past with nothing new or fresh to take their place, the inspired words from the Holy Spirit became pieces I cut and pasted from lessons learned in some section of my distant past, the vision I had for where I was being led began to grow dim and I found myself twilling in circles looking for any point of light towards which to begin running, and the produce generated from this path seemed to smell more rotten then fresh.

          Over the last two years, I have pulled up the drilling rods completely and I have been scanning the surface for a new site upon which to probe.  One that would not twist me in the same direction all over again.  One that would not lead to the same staleness but would reach the target in which God promises a life lived with an abundance (John 10:10) of vigor and potency.  I had to conclude that if the Holy Spirit was in me, which I know He is, then the path I have taken has deviated so far from His plan that He can no longer associate my direction and His path except through void.  He could no longer scream direction my way while I plugged my ears and claimed to be following Him.  And so He allowed me to see, hear, feel, smell and taste His absence; and it has sucked.  Whatever way I was following may have been His way while the sediment was loose and the drilling was easy going, but as I lost site of the rigging, the fault lines and molten rock sheered away my passion, motivation and even my anointing.

          So what now?  Can you bear more drilling references?  Now there is a method known as “directional drilling” which actually allows the operator to receive feedback from the drill bit about the substance through which the bit is boring and the direction it is going so that it can be course corrected.  I also realized that hundreds of geologist, engineers, researchers and drilling experts are instrumental in any large-scale drilling project that is undergone today.  So how can I begin to drill down beneath a superficial life with Christ and still maintain direction, working directly beneath the rigging? 

First, I need a solid operator.  And it can’t be me this time.  And I can’t claim it is God but then do what I feel is best.  And I can’t lose sight of the surface saying to myself, “I got it from here.”      

Second, I need a target.  Yes God can course correct anytime He wants, and yes there will be secondary missions that all occur within the drill, but everything must point towards the target.  When the rock gets hot, I need to have strong convictions from which I refuse to waiver.

Last, I need hundreds of people to make this work.  When my equipment fails, I may need to borrow a rod or two, a jump start or maybe some grease.  The deeper I go, the easier it is going to be to horizontally deviate unless I have godly men and women surrounding me and analyzing the core; holding my samples up to the light to see if everything is adding up.  

Then, and only then can I feel good about starting up the engines again.  Until then, I sit here on the surface sharpening the bit.  That is where I am, that is why “His Next Rung” has been pulled, and that is why this blog only rests at the surface.  I know the Operator, albeit from a fresh start.  I have some resonating guidance towards a target.  I just need the people; and I have a feeling we all do.  If you would agree to be one of those, please comment below.  If you need help with this or any of the three components I have listed, please reach out to me and I will tell you what I have learned in the past two years of backing off prescribed Christianity and towards something more authentic.  We are not in this alone, and I don’t want to do it alone anymore.