Fruitful in Famine

And perhaps, by God’s grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources.” —- C.S. Lewis

My home state of California is a few years into a drought, and nowhere is it more evident than in our personal landscapes.

Brown is in, a sure sign you’re being responsible by limiting your water output. Cactus and other succulents are also in vogue, and plenty of businesses and residences display wide areas of dirt and rock, unashamed. It’s a drought, after all, so flowers aren’t expected to flourish.

Fruitfulness during a famine of any sort isn’t the norm, at least not in the natural world. But in the Kingdom, believers are, or should be, fruit-bearers despite an ever-worsening environment.

And “ever worsening” is too polite. Our natural drought is symbolic of the epic moral and spiritual one we’re experiencing coast to coast. Confidence in our national leadership is paper thin, and a sarcastic “Gee, wonder why?” wouldn’t be out or order, no matter which level or partisan stripe you’re talking about. (American confidence in the church, by the way, isn’t looking much better.)  The slaughter of unborn children, in lieu of being mourned, is now celebrated on t-shirts boasting “I Had an Abortion”,  while mega-celebrities indignantly cancel their concerts in states having the gall to think men shouldn’t urinate in the presence of girls.

Yet listing modern atrocities is easy. Answering the call to fruitfulness during the famine, while not always easy, is a better way, because if Biblical principles don’t work in hard times, then they don’t work at all. Yet they do work, thank God, if only they’ll be heeded and practiced.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Abide

It’s interesting to remember when Jesus spoke to His disciples about life after He left, He warned of hard times, then stressed the importance of abiding in Him. (John 15:1-8) Whatever injustices or wrongs we can effectively fight, we should, and to what extent we can impact the culture’s system and ways, let’s do it. But above all, the priority for the Disciple is union with her or his Lord. That’s a fact of life and key to survival, not just a quaint cliché.

This concept of abiding was so important that He warned if we don’t abide in Him, we’ll wither and die, becoming part of the surrounding drought rather than part of its solution. (Verse 6) Clearly, then, we’re expected to bear fruit regardless of the climate, depending on an unchanging, immune-to-the-conditions Vine.

So a few points about abiding should be considered.

“Abide” Means “Aware”

When Jesus said “The eye is the lamp of the body” (Matthew 6:22) He reminded us that what we focus on determines our inner health and outer effectiveness. In plain terms, what I set my thoughts on steers my course. So to abide in Him I have to first love Him with my mind, deciding to stay aware of His presence within me and around me, and practicing that decision by moment to moment recognition.

Right there I’m sunk, unless my Shepherd does His part. Because my mind wanders like an over-caffeinated lamb, straying off into daydreams or distractions. So I begin the Abiding experience by admitting I can’t do it on my own, but I have to, so I will if only You, Lord, will be God of my thoughts and prod me when they stray. Keep my unruly mind on track and enhance my ability to function with a sound mind rather than a noisy one.

Try that prayer on for size. I know you’ll get an answer.

“Abide” Means “Obey”

Paul said not to grieve the Person of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and John said walking in the light allows for our fellowship with Him. (I John 1:7) That tells me every decision to resist temptation or avoid carnal thinking is also a decision to enhance my communion with Christ and, thereby, my ability to abide in the Vine.

I’ve never believed we need to confess every sin lest we die with a transgression on our heads and risk our eternal standing. But we do need to confess sin as we become aware of it, however big or small it seems.

It’s appalling to see some believers denigrate that reality by making light of the need to confess, promoting the strange doctrine that grace makes confession of personal sin unnecessary. While it’s true that sin needn’t cancel out our salvation (thank God!)  but it surely does interrupt communion with God, grieving His Spirit and clouding our minds and emotions. Is that really something any of us would call insignificant?

Not if the command to abide means anything. Where there’s no watchfulness over unconfessed sin, there can hardly be real abiding, since communion with God tolerates no compromise. I can abide in Him or walk in darkness – still saved, perhaps, but not joined to what keeps the good fruit coming.

“Abide” Means “Stay Hungry”

“Draw me, and we will run after Thee” the Shulamite tells her Beloved. (Song of Solomon 1:4) Compare that to what Jesus said about staying hungry – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6) – and you get
the picture.

Staying hungry is both the reason to abide and its result. The closer I stay to Him, the more I want Him, closeness breeding desire; desire enhancing closeness. When my study of scripture is a means to intimacy, and when my prayer life is less about what I want to get and more about Who I want to embrace, things change. I’m nestled in the Vine; I bear fruit. This stuff works, regardless.

“Abide” Gets Results

Abide in Him and three things will happen, just as He said they would.

You’ll be fruitful, because “He that abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit.” (John 15:5)
Fruit of the Holy Spirit, the really good stuff Paul described in Galatians 5:22, will pop out in abundance, bringing your works and fruit in harmony with what you profess.

You’ll glorify God, because “In this is My Father glorified, in that you bring forth much fruit.” (John 15:8) When His people stay close to Him and their produce is genuine, God shows off. He’s glorified, His ability to create art out of any life on display, His people being Exhibit A.

You’ll be a disciple in the truest since, because “So shall you be My disciples.” (John 15:8) A disciple studies the Word, for sure, and is diligent about matters like church attendance and stewardship. But the acid test of discipleship is the fruit of the person claiming to be one.

None of which depends on how well or sick my surroundings are, but rather what I chose to literally and eternally plug into. There’s an invitation we’d be fools to decline, and if I wonder whether or not I’m up for such consistent, day to day commitment, I’m reminded of some helpful thoughts Andrew Murray once penned when writing about Abiding in Christ:

And if the thought will sometimes come: Surely this is too high for us; can it be really true? Only remember that the greatness of the privilege is justified by the greatness of the object He has in view.
-Andrew Murray