WHEN A BATTERY needs recharging, we turn to electricity. When a vehicle needs refuelling, we turn to the gas station. When the stomach needs refilling, we turn to food. When the body needs recharging, we turn to sleep. When the brain needs stimulating, we turn to information. When the heart needs love, we turn to people. When the spirit and soul need recharging, where do you turn?
I have found that when my spirit and soul are dry or troubled, they affect my body, thoughts, emotions, attitude, actions and my speech. Over the past four months I have found that an hour to three hours dedicated to prayer, worship and reading recharges my spirit and soul fully and I receive great revelation and inspiration.
Three weeks ago, I was in a really low place due to everything that was going on as it related to me furthering my education. The finances weren’t coming, time was counting down and the things associated with this huge transition all felt like a huge weight; and my spirit and soul were just drained. I knew I needed a recharge, so just around 9 a.m. I turned on Chris Morgan’s album Beyond The Shadows and just started to pace and pray.
During my time of prayer, God spoke a very simple sentence that resonated with me and I stopped what I was doing and started to ponder. He said: “You are my tree in the earth.” As I stood there and thought about what this could mean, the revelation came and I want to share some with you and hope it encourages you as it did me.
Have you ever realised how the presence of a tree brings life and beauty to an area? Compare a rainforest and a desert, or a tropical island and a concrete jungle. What makes the difference is the greenery.
Every tree is created with a purpose and that is to produce fruit. Let’s look at the etymology of the word fruit so as to set a context for this argument. It comes from the Latin word fructus, a derivative of Latin frui, which means to enjoy, to benefit, to use or to profit. For the remainder of this article, it is within this context that I use the word fruit.
All trees produce fruit, something we can enjoy or use or benefit from. Some of the fruits which trees produce are food, medicine, sap, oxygen, wood and shade; prevention of soil erosion; provide a home and protection; paper, soap, foliage; are used as landmarks, to determine the seasons, for beauty and decoration, and the list goes on. Some trees produce multiple fruit whereas some only produce one. Nonetheless, each tree has a purpose and produces fruit to benefit people and the earth.
Annette Maynard-Watson writes a column that speaks of the benefits of edible fruits and what I found quite remarkable is that there are some trees that produce different fruits but with similar benefits. Maybe God in His infinite wisdom knew that some people would be allergic to certain fruits so He provided options so they could still benefit from the medicinal properties.
I am a tree and you are a tree. We were created with a purpose to be of benefit, enjoyment and use to others and the earth by the fruit we produce. Could you imagine if a mahogany tree was jealous it wasn’t a cherry tree and tried to become one? How would we enjoy the products made from mahogany? There is someone created to enjoy the fruit we each produce and as a result, there is no need to compare our contributions or be envious of other people’s fruit. We marvel at the engineer whose fruit was the airplane but we fail to realise the engineer was the fruit of a teacher.
There is a time and a season when the earth demands from a tree its fruit and that is after a process of maturing and development. The same is true for us as humans, so I hope you appreciate time, seasons, process and development.
There is a three-point test each fruit we produce should pass. (1) Can God enjoy it? (2) Can you enjoy it? (3) Can others enjoy it? If you fail any of the three, you aren’t fulfilling your purpose and you are producing bad fruit.
• Corey Worrell, a former Commonwealth youth ambassador, is director of C2J Foundation Inc., a project-based NGO focusing on social development.