Don't Pick Fruit Before It’s Ripe!

Grow Again: Trusting God in the Slow and Hidden Work of Growth

Last month, sitting in a conference session with Christy Osborne (who is honestly one of the best humans I know) and in the middle of the waiting season I found myself in, God nudged me:

“You can’t pick the fruit before it’s ripe.”

It landed like a whisper, a warning, and an invitation all at once to notice the pace and formation of the season, not merely the outcome. Let’s be honest though. Watching and waiting for fruit to ripe isn’t all that easy.

Especially if we’re hungry for the finished product.

Do you ever fall prey to the temptation to hurry things along? To manufacture outcomes, to create movement when heaven is still saying “wait”? Yeah, me too.

• We see the surface. God sees the seed.

• We see the blossom. God sees the root.

• We see what looks ready to be harvested. God sees what still needs time to be nourished.

Fruit might look ready on the outside. Shiny, colourful. Even enticing. But if the inner work is incomplete, what comes forth will lack sweetness, depth, and staying power.

So I sat with God and made a few messy notes about what happens when we reach too quickly for fruit before it’s fully ripened. Here’s what I noticed:

1. The flavour will be off.
   It might taste sour, bitter, or simply bland. Rushing rarely produces richness. It leads to something that’s technically fruit, but not the kind you want to savour or share. Let’s not be bitter, amiright?!

2. The texture will be wrong.

   Unripe fruit can be hard, chalky, even dry. It lacks tenderness. I wonder how often spiritual “dryness” comes not from God’s absence, but from our impatience?!

3. It won’t reach maturity

   Once the fruit is detached from the vine or tree, it stops developing. It can’t reach its full flavour, colour, or potential. Maturity is always the result of remaining. When it comes to our dreams, callings, and character, the same is true.

4. The plant can be damaged

   Pulling fruit before its time doesn’t just affect the fruit, it can wound the plant itself. We can stunt the future yield and its vitality will be limited when we refuse the present process.

So let me ask us both:

Are we trying to pick fruit before it’s ripe?
Are we hurrying for outcomes God is still forming? Reaching for opportunities He hasn’t prepared us to sustain? Chasing answers He’s still ripening beneath the surface?

His Word reminds us:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
(Galatians 6:9, NIV)

It’s not just that the harvest will come. It’s that it will come at the proper time. Not sooner. Not later. Not a moment before the fruit is rich, sweet, and full of the Holy Spirit’s life.

God isn’t withholding; He’s perfecting.
He wants fruit that remains (John 15:16). Fruit with beauty and flavour. Fruit that blesses not just now, but later. Not just you, but others around you.

And the only way we can steward that kind of fruit is to stay connected.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…”
(John 15:5, NIV)

So today, let’s let Him finish what He’s started.
Let’s stay rooted. Let’s trust the unseen work.
Let’s resist the urge to pluck promises, projects, or purposes before their time.

Because when the fruit is ripe, it will be unmistakably His… and worth every moment we waited.

Lord Jesus, teach me the art of holy waiting.
Help me trust Your timing over my striving.
Keep me rooted in You, and ripen what You’ve planted in my life.
May the fruit You produce in me be rich, sweet, and deeply surrendered.
Amen.

Let’s grow together as we consider:

Where in your life are you feeling the pull to rush what God is still ripening?

If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear your story. Please share a comment so we can encourage one another in the waiting.

Cheering you on!

Em 💛

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