Growth Takes Time
Roots grow out of sight long before any fruit appears.
We live in an age of instant results. Meals arrive in minutes, answers in seconds and entertainment on demand. It is easy to carry the same expectation into the Christian life. We want to be patient by Friday, free from an old habit by next month and spiritually mature by the end of the year.
When growth comes slowly, discouragement sets in. We wonder why we still struggle with the same sins and whether we are making any progress at all.
Scripture speaks of spiritual growth in the language of farming and gardening, and that language is full of patience. Seeds take time to sprout. Trees take years to bear fruit. Before anything grows upward, it must first grow down.
The Tree by the River
The very first psalm describes the person who delights in God's word: "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (Psalm 1:3).
Two phrases deserve attention. The tree is "planted," which means it has been placed there deliberately and has put down roots. And it bears fruit "in his season." Even a healthy tree does not bear fruit every month. There are seasons of blossom and seasons of waiting, and the fruit comes when it is ready.
Jeremiah uses the same picture and adds a detail: the tree "spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit" (Jeremiah 17:8). "Careful" here means anxious. Deep roots are what allow the tree to keep living when the rain stops.
Hidden Growth Is Real Growth
Much of the most important growth in a plant happens where no one can see it. Roots spread underground long before the visible plant reaches any size. The same is true in the Christian life.
When you read Scripture day after day without dramatic insight, when you pray faithfully without obvious answers, when you choose honesty or kindness in small, unseen moments, you may feel you are getting nowhere. In fact, you are putting down roots. Paul prayed that believers would be "rooted and grounded in love" (Ephesians 3:17), and he urged the Colossians to be "rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith" (Colossians 2:7).
Roots are not glamorous, but they determine everything. A tree with shallow roots may grow quickly and fall in the first strong wind.
Jesus' Parable of the Growing Seed
Jesus told a short parable that only Mark records. "So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear" (Mark 4:26–28).
The farmer plants and then goes to sleep. He does not understand exactly how the seed grows, and he cannot make it grow faster by staring at it. Growth comes in stages: the blade, then the ear, then the full grain.
There is great freedom in this. We are responsible to plant, water and tend. We are not responsible to produce the growth itself. Paul said the same about ministry: "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6). Spiritual growth is God's work in us, and He is patient with the process.
What You Can Do
If God gives the growth, what is our part? We put ourselves in the places where growth happens.
Stay near the water. The tree in Psalm 1 is planted by rivers. Regular time in Scripture and prayer keeps you near the source of life, even on days when you feel little.
Stay in good soil. Plants need the right environment. For believers that includes a local church, honest friendships and teaching that is faithful to the Bible.
Accept pruning. Jesus said that the Father prunes every branch that bears fruit, "that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:2). Pruning hurts. It may come as correction, disappointment or the loss of something we loved. But it is never wasted.
Measure in years, not days. Look back over a year or five years instead of a week. Are you quicker to forgive than you once were? More honest? More aware of God? Many believers discover they have grown more than they realized.
God Finishes What He Starts
The most encouraging truth about spiritual growth is that it does not finally depend on us. Paul wrote, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
God is not in a hurry, and He is not discouraged by your slow progress. He is a patient gardener who sees the full tree in the small seed. So be patient with yourself, as He is patient with you. Keep your roots near the water. In His season, the fruit will come.
