Fig Tree

Yesterday I had a fight with my fig tree. I love my fig tree, it produces very sweet figs. It is a huge tree and is able to satisfy me, some of my fig loving family, the birds, the possums and the bats. It is a rich producing tree.

Now that it is winter, the leaves have dropped off, probably mostly into the guttering on our roof! But the branches are now bare and grey.

Last winter, I decided that I was going to be brave and cut this tree back rather mercilessly. I hoped I wouldn’t harm it, but the branches were tangling with the phone lines to the house and shading a number of other plants I have in the front garden.

By summer, I couldn’t believe how this tree had recovered from my pruning and how huge it grew! It was reaching for the skies. New branches now shaded more plants and the height of the tree was of no help to me in gathering the best figs which always seem to be on the top.

So, this year I have decided the pruning becomes more brutal. I will have to get a saw and bring down those lofty arms and cut the tree down to size. It must have some of its pride leveled. If I don’t do this, who knows but next year it will dominate everything from one side of my house to the other.

Do I hate my tree? Is this why I am going to cut it and watch the sap drain out of the stumps? Am I angry with the tree? The answer is obvious. Of course not! I love my fig tree. I want it to flourish in the garden and produce good figs for me next year, especially ones that I can reach. . But I must manage the tree. It is not the only tree or plant in my garden. Everything must live in harmony there.

I have noticed in my long years as a Christian that it seems that the trees that bear the most for God that are richest in his grace and knowledge, are often the ones that God is toughest with. I see it in my own life, but of course, I moan the most when the cuts come to me!

Watching someone else getting pruned by God can make me feel empathetic, but I can often find an encouraging scripture for them. However, when it is me, I usually resort to accusing God of causing me pain. In my old years I am trying to learn not to do this as it only shows a lack of sight and understanding of this life from God’s perspective.

Yesterday, I started pruning the fig tree. I first spent time examining which branches would need to be cut. This didn’t mean I just looked at dead branches and it meant that some of the branches I have earmarked for the cut are the biggest and healthiest ones. We often wonder why God cuts things that seem to us to be good.

I had to climb into the tree at one stage and pull back a springy branch so that I could get at another on the other side of the tree. I climbed in and cut the branch I had identified and then had to haul it back out. As I retreated, the springy branch came back and whacked me in the mouth! I nearly got a fat lip from my fig tree!

I couldn’t blame the tree; it can’t understand why I might be hurting it so cruelly. Me and the tree don’t really have good communication as the tree doesn’t speak my language. I just have to hope that it understands that it can trust me and that I have its best interests at heart. Plus, it needs to know that I have the power to chop it down completely. It exists for me. It is there for my pleasure.

Pro 27:18 Whoever takes care of a fig tree can eat its fruit,