My wife bought a dwarf lemon tree.
When I say tree, I’m being generous. It looked like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree — small, awkward, slightly embarrassed to exist. It came in a plastic tub no bigger than a one-gallon bucket. Thin branches. Sparse leaves. It looked more like a weed than something that would ever produce fruit.
Naturally, I suggested we get a more mature tree.
In my mind, maturity meant productivity. Bigger tree, quicker lemons. Immediate return. That makes sense, right? Why wait years for something that looks like it may not even survive?
But my wife has the patience of a saint. She doesn’t require immediate satisfaction. She sees potential where I see timelines. She sees life where I see lack.
So she planted that little bush on our back hill.
And for a year she watered it.
Added good soil.
Paid attention to it.
I, on the other hand, had zero faith.
Jesus said, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed… nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
Apparently, my mustard seed was missing.
Then one day my wife comes inside and says, “The lemon tree has its first lemon.”
I had to go see for myself.
And sure enough — this scrawny, hapless little stick of a plant had a tiny lemon hanging from it.
I stood there staring at it, half laughing, half convicted.
If that little tree could talk, I swear it would have said,
“You of little faith…” (Matthew 8:26)
What I saw as weak, she saw as becoming.
What I saw as delayed, she saw as developing.
What I saw as pointless, she nurtured patiently.
There’s something childlike about her belief. Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
Children don’t obsess over timelines. They trust. They tend. They believe something will grow simply because it’s alive.
And here’s the lesson that hit me standing on that hill:
When you plant something, water it faithfully, and give it attention — it bears fruit.
Jesus said, “Abide in Me… Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” (John 15:5)
Fruit doesn’t come from forcing.
It doesn’t come from doubting.
It comes from abiding. Staying. Watering. Trusting.
I wanted the big tree with fast results.
God seems to prefer the small beginnings.
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” (Zechariah 4:10)
That little lemon hanging from that little tree felt like a quiet rebuke and a gentle reminder:
Faithfulness over flash.
Patience over pressure.
Tending over timing.
And maybe the fruit in our lives — peace, joy, kindness, self-control — grows the same way.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience…” (Galatians 5:22)
Patience. Of course it’s in there.
The scrawny tree produced fruit.
Not because I believed in it.
Because my wife did.
Closing Prayer
Lord, forgive my need for quick results and visible proof. Teach me to trust small beginnings. Help me to water what You’ve planted, even when it looks unimpressive. Grow in me a faith that is patient, childlike, and steady — that I might bear good fruit in Your time.
Amen.
