Fruit

I know, these are pictures of flowers, not fruit. However, the "fruit" of the plant, the flower, teaches us a lesson in itself. You see, I bought these plants from a man who has his own greenhouses in his yard. I told him I wanted pink flowers. So, he handed me these two plants, with blossoms on them. He was sure they were both pink. After a couple of days, when the blossoms finally opened, the one was pink, but the other was red AND white! At first, I was a bit disappointed, but then I was thankful because the plant is really unique and beautiful, and very different than what I expected!

I had wanted a certain kind of "fruit" to emerge...but a different kind, still beautiful and still in keeping with this plant's true nature, burst forth. Sometimes in our spiritual lives with God, we look at people and want to see certain fruits. Of course in the Bible it is clear what the fruit of the Spirit is and these are essential...but sometimes, I wonder if we don't have our own "ideas" about the fruit that should be evident in people's lives, and if the fruit that emerges doesn't quite "match" what we had in mind, then instead of finding the true beauty in that particular fruit, we get frustrated, and want to see something different.

We are all on this journey together, some growing in their walks with Jesus faster than others, some producing "pink" fruit, and some producing "red and white" fruit...but the fruit itself is still good, in this case. May we be patient with one another, bear with one another, and love one another as God does His great work of producing HIS fruit in each person's life.