I learned another important lesson from my garden about what happens when someone bears fruit too soon. I planted my pumpkin seeds way too early. I’m learning the heat of early and mid-summer makes the pumpkins shrivel on the vine. I do have other pumpkin seeds I planted much later (for a fall harvest), so I’m tending to these plants now. These will thrive in late summer and in the cool of early autumn.
Seeing the shriveled pumpkins reminds me why we often do not bear fruit in the season we want in our lives. God knows we cannot handle it. The timing matters. Our character or very lives might shrivel under the weight of our good works. We might not be able to avoid the temptation of wealth, fame, or anything that comes with the fruit we might bear. We might not really have the time, either. We might need to wait a long time, for a more favorable season of life, to see how God has set us apart for certain good works.
I look at my shriveled yellow pumpkins that fall off the vine and remember the danger of not waiting on God’s perfect timing.