Waiting on Your Time to Come?
In this blog, we’re talking about working hard but NOT seeing results.
Because the season of you doing SOOOO much work with NO REWARD ⸻ or fruitfulness is O-V-E-R.
I’m hardly a farmer, but something magical is happening for my family.
At home, we grow veggies, flowers, and fruits. 
Seeing life sprout and flourish is rewarding. 🌱🌿🍇
It brings me joy watching my family learn about plants.
Or seeing them get excited when 🐝 bees and 🦋 butterflies flutter around them.
I love watching their appreciation for nature grow.
Downsides to gardening?
For me, there aren’t many downsides to gardening.
Aside from an occasional leafy plant with no fruit or flowers in sight.
You’d think a plant with many leaves would have some fruit or flowers, but nope. 🙂↔️
Because sometimes, the plant puts all its energy into growing leaves or survival.
When this happens, they have little energy left for fruit or flowers.
When Your Efforts Are Like A Leafy Plant With No Fruit
Not long ago, I was checking my melon garden.
The vines were full of leaves and flowers but had no fruit.
The problem? It’s time to see fruit. 
When this happens with my plants, I know it’s time to make changes.
Maybe the LEAFY PLANT needs…
💧 More water
🌵 Less water
🔄 Consistent watering
🌿 Different soil
💊 Fertilizer
🐝 Better pollination
🔎 Or something else
Why My Leafy Plant Was A Problem
Whatever the case, a change is needed.
😓 If I don’t make a change, I’ll keep doing a lot of work with little to show for it.
And guess what? This doesn’t just happen with plants—it can happen in our lives too.
😓 That means, our lives can be like a leafy plant with little fruit to show.
And nobody wants that! ⬆️⬆️⬆️
My garden is a gateway for so many life lessons.
Do you have a garden or a hobby that teaches you life lessons?
Tell me more about it in the comments!
Jesus and the Leafy Tree w/NO Fruit
Do you know something similar happened to Jesus?
Yep, Jesus saw a fig tree full of leaves but NO fruit.
Wanna know what Jesus did? Let me tell you!
Follow along in your Bible:
✅ Matthew 21:18-22 and ✅ Mark 11:12-14, 20-25.
Jesus was hungry. He saw this leafy fig tree and went over to grab some fruit.
But the tree had loads of leaves but no fruit.
Jesus spoke to the fig tree…
🗣️ May you never bear fruit again! (Matthew 21:19)
🗣️ May no one ever eat your fruit again! (Mark 11:14)
Here’s the deal? The fig tree was a symbol for people who LOOKED fruitful but really weren’t. 😬
That means people can work hard, but produce nothing (kinda like a leafy plant with no fruit).
In a SHOCKING TWIST, Jesus told a HYPOTHETICAL (what-if) story about a fig tree earlier…
Flip over to Luke 13:1-9. Here Jesus told a story about a fig tree.
Jesus introduced this story with a series of questions.
He used theses questions to show that everyone needs to repent.
That means we all need to:
Change our minds
Turn away from things that aren’t helping us bear fruit for God’s kingdom
And stay committed to growth 🌱
This tells me ‼️ there’s a connection between those things and fruitfulness.
Here’s the story!
“A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
“The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”
My Own Fig Tree Struggle
This happened to me too! I got a Pineapple Pear Tree as a gift for my husband.
I planted it, thinking everything would be smooth sailing.
But no, I had so many problems with that tree. 😤
I did some research and told my husband, ‘If this doesn’t work, I’ll cut it down.’
And I was SOOO serious.
🪓 Axe to the root and chop it down without a second thought.
Why? Because why keep putting effort into something that’s NOT working?
Thankfully, I didn’t have to cut it down.
The tree started producing 🍐 in the third year, and my family is enjoying the fruit!
Fruitfulness in Scripture
Fruitfulness in scripture can represent the brighter side of life! That means lots of goodness + God’s glory.
The Promised Land 🥛🍯
The Promised Land was said to flow with milk and honey.
When spies checked out the Promised Land, twelve went. Ten had a bad report, but TWO came back super excited about the place and its fruit. (Numbers 13) 🍇
The Good of the Land 🍽️
If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land. (Isaiah 1:19)
The Fruitful Tree in Psalm 1 🌳
1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3 KJV)
And finally, my point… ⬇️⬇️⬇️ *cue the applause*
✨ God wants you to be fruitful.
✨ You bring God glory by bearing lots of fruit. (John 15:8) 🍇
✨ That means God will work through you and your life. He will make you His instrument. He will set you apart for special use to show His favor, power, grace, love, nature, and glory.
Use Your Faith
Use your faith to believe God wants you to be fruitful. Then, align your daily life with that belief.
Turn away from things that don’t help you bear fruit for God’s kingdom.
Ask God to help you change your mind and stay committed to 🌱 growth!
✂️🌿 Because fruitless and flowerless plants will eventually get pruned by their gardener.
🍈 BTW—my melon garden is doing AMAZING now.
My plants just needed more water. 💧🌱
But um, question for you. Has this ever happened to you? 🤔
☝🏽 Have you ever felt like you were working hard with nothing to show for it?
👉🏽 Or have you ever had a project that felt full of potential but didn’t produce results?
I think we can ALL acknowledge that working hard for nothing doesn’t feel good.
So, I say we pinpoint possible problems that create a wedge between where you are and where you wanna be…
10 Reasons You Work Hard But Don’t See Results
- Focusing on the wrong things will stop you from being fruitful and reaching your goals.
- Having NO clear goals almost guarantees you a QUICK TICKET to nowhere fast.
- Using outdated methods can bring your efforts to a screeching halt and make you work harder for less results.
- Bad time management is spending too much or too little time on something you could ditch altogether or delegate to someone else.
- Saying yes too much or trying to do too many things can spread yourself too thin and make reaching your goals harder.
- A lack of knowledge or skills can make achieving your goals challenging because trying to do things you’re not good at can destroy your confidence and lead to poor results.
- Not having enough resources or the tools you need to succeed is a ONE-WAY ticket to fruitlessness aka ALL work and LITTLE success.
- Too many distractions and constant interruptions can break your focus ⸻ Distractions and interruptions will disrupt your creative flow or stream of productivity.
- PERFECTIONISM and spending too much time to make something perfect can hurt your fruitfulness and productivity. Perfectionism was a weakness for me. So I wrote some confessions to help you move forward with good enough results — GET THEM HERE.
- And finally, this will get you a ONE-WAY-TICKET to nowhere…refusing to CHANGE, ADJUST, and TURN away from what isn’t fruitful (aka repent).
Your Turn to Try
Working harder doesn’t always mean better results.
And in this blog, I told you EXACTLY why — plus I exposed 10 reasons you work hard but don’t see results.
QUICK RECAP ⬇️⬇️⬇️
1️⃣ Focusing on the Wrong Things: Spending time on tasks that don’t help you reach your main goals.
2️⃣ No Clear Goals: Lacking specific, measurable objectives.
3️⃣ Outdated Methods: Using old ways that don’t yield goal-breaking results.
4️⃣ Bad Time Management: Focusing on unimportant tasks.
5️⃣ Taking on Too Much: Spreading yourself too thin.
6️⃣ Lack of Skills or Knowledge: Not having the necessary expertise.
7️⃣ Not Enough Resources: Missing critical tools or support.
8️⃣ Too Many Distractions: Entertaining interruptions that break your focus.
9️⃣ Perfectionism: Trying to make everything perfect and delaying progress.
🔟 Failure to Adjust: Refusing to change or adjust.
If you’re working hard, but making little or no progress, stop putting a comma behind your mistakes and not a period.
Adjust—so you can be more fruitful.
God wants that for you.
Well, that’s all for now.
I hope this blog helps you ADDRESS common pitfalls, ADJUST your approach, and ACQUIRE real results. ✌️🏽🙏🏽🕊️
👋🏽 Hi, I’m LOLA ⸻ the creator of offbeat life advice brand, The Smoking Prophet, owner of a growing content agency, and cultivator of life (family first)!
Most days, you can find me at my desk, in my garden, or on the go. My super-social family keeps me on my toes!
Follow The Smoking Prophet to ignite your creativity, grow spiritually, and blaze your own trail online!
1 Comment
Tazze · at
This blog was so good and informative . I love it. The leaves are what caught my interest. I’m not a gardener, but have planted a few broccoli plants and intentionally did what I had to do, and saw the fruit of labor, But a little thief robbed us that’s right a squirrel lol needless to say, I lacked knowledge on how to properly protect it. Excellent teaching Lola💜