The Instinct of Adventure: The Story of SamsonSample

Spread Some More Manure

Jesus often spoke in parables. Many of his parables have become universally recognized: the lost sheep, the prodigal son, the good Samaritan. But one of my favorite parables is less commonly recognized. Luke offers us Jesus' parable of the barren fig tree. It is only three verses, but I’ve found it to be remarkably profound in growing as a man.

The story goes that a landowner went out to check on his orchard. A particular fig tree was still without figs. According to the parable, the owner had been waiting three years and the tree was still fruitless. Fig trees are notoriously slow to produce figs. Most grow for at least three years before they begin to produce. It’s possible this owner had waited three years beyond that expected time. Six years of caring for a fig tree that never produced any figs.

He was done wasting time and ordered the tree cut down. “Why should it use up the ground?” he vented. But the caretaker offered an alternative. He suggested they add a little more manure to the roots and wait another year.

That’s how the parable ends. We never find out the results. Did it work? Were there figs the next year? What is the point of that story? And why have I put it here at the end of our Samson readings?

I think Jesus' point was that some things take longer than we expect. And there is only so much we can do. Cultivating a rich discernment and recognizing the full story God is working on in your life is not a weekend project. There are plenty of times we get frustrated at the lack of fruit. What’s the point?

But the caretaker understands where our real work lies. We can only spread more manure and give it more time.

I want to suggest that for the restless adventurer's heart this is the real work. Time, patience, and manure.

This is the way of Christ, his gospel message, the manure that we spread and work into the ground of our lives. The results are sometimes slow, but the nutrients are real. In time, it does its job. We grow. Fruit begins to form.

I think adventure is like that too. Aim at, try and force it, and it will betray you. You won’t get adventure but restlessness and self-obsession. Instead, keep pursuing God; keep spreading manure.

One day a year from now, you will find that sense of adventure you were looking for. One day it will be there for you to pick and enjoy. But it's not yours to say when. The hair eventually grows. The fruit eventually forms. You keep spreading manure.

How can you more deeply commit to what God has given you? How might you learn to discern more from it?