Finding the Fruit in Your Current Season

Life is lived in seasons, not just days or years. Each season brings its own challenges, processes, and opportunities. Yet many of us struggle to find joy and purpose in our current circumstances because we’re constantly looking backward to “the good old days” or forward to when things will finally get better.

The biblical principle of first fruits teaches us something profound about honoring God in every season of life – even the difficult ones.

What Are First Fruits?

In Deuteronomy 26:1-4, 10-11, God instructed His people to bring the first portion of their harvest to Him as an offering. This wasn’t about bringing leftovers after they had taken what they wanted. It was about honoring God with the best part of their season, even before they knew how abundant the full harvest would be.

“Put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship… And now, O Lord, I have brought the first portion of a harvest that you’ve given me from the ground. Then place the produce before the Lord your God and bow to the ground in worship before him.” – Deuteronomy 26:2, 10-11

This celebration was fundamentally about remembering freedom – freedom from slavery in Egypt and gratitude for God’s provision. It was about honoring the season they were in, not the season they had left or the one they hoped for.

Why Do We Struggle to Honor Our Current Season?

Most people fail to find fruit in their present circumstances because they’re focused elsewhere. Some constantly look backward, saying “remember the good old days” and giving more honor to past seasons than the present one. Others are always looking forward – “when I get that job,” “when I have that house,” “when I can get out of debt” – honoring future seasons above the current one.

The problem with living on the horizon is that it’s always moving. It’s not a destination; it’s a view. If your joy and gratitude depend on something “out there,” you’ll never experience peace in your life.

How to Find the Fruit in Any Season

1. You Have to Look for It

Philippians 4:8 instructs us: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Think on the things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

You have to intentionally look for the good because everything opposite is looking for you. Discouragement, distraction, and defeat are actively seeking your attention every day. If you don’t intentionally search for the fruit in your season, you won’t see it.

Whatever you’re looking for in life is what you’re going to see. If you’re looking for God in your circumstances, you’ll find the good. If you’re looking for problems, you’ll find plenty of those too.

Every season has fruit, but not everyone stops long enough to see it.

2. Find Something to Like in It

Proverbs 3:9 says to “Honor the Lord with your wealth and the best part of everything you produce.” God isn’t asking you to honor things that aren’t honorable, but He is asking you to honor the things that are honorable.

First Thessalonians 5:18 reminds us: “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” Notice it says “in all circumstances,” not “for all circumstances.”

Even in difficult seasons, there’s usually someone who walked with you, something you learned, or some way you grew. Focus on that fruit rather than the problems or people who caused pain.

3. Leverage the Good You Find

Romans 11:16 teaches us that “if the roots of the tree are holy, then the branches will be too.” This is the principle of first fruits – whatever happens with the first determines the rest.

You don’t have to find good in everything, but if you find good in one thing and focus on that, it will multiply. Like yeast in dough, gratitude in one area will spread to other areas of your life.

What you make happen in your current season determines what happens in your next season. How you exit one thing determines how you enter the next. If you leave a season with bitterness and negativity, you’ll enter the next season with even more bitterness and negativity.

4. Let It Go

Jesus said in John 12:24: “Unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone, but its death will produce many new kernels and a plentiful harvest of new lives.”

You have to release things to God – both the good and the bad. What you release to God becomes seed for what He produces next in your life. This includes forgiving those who hurt you, trusting God with your finances through tithing, and letting go of control over outcomes.

Release is not loss; it’s trust. When you give your first fruits to God, you’re saying, “God, I trust you with all the rest.”

The Power of Gratitude

Gratitude is how you position your heart toward things, just as attitude is how you position your mind. Most people are looking somewhere other than where they are in order to be grateful, but gratitude is about recognizing the value and good in your current circumstances.

When you can find God in anything, you can find good in anything. People who experience life more deeply aren’t those with perfect lives – they’re people who learn to honor the fruit of the season they’re standing in.

Honoring Difficult Relationships

Sometimes honoring a season means finding something to appreciate even in difficult relationships. The Bible says to give honor where honor is due – not where it isn’t due, but where it is.

For example, if you struggle to honor a parent who wasn’t good to you, you can still thank them for giving you life. Because if they hadn’t, you wouldn’t be able to experience any of the good things you’re grateful for in your life.

Life Application

This week, challenge yourself to identify and honor the fruit in your current season. Stop comparing your present circumstances to past seasons or future hopes. Instead, intentionally look for what God is doing right now in your life, relationships, work, and circumstances.

Practice gratitude daily by recognizing at least one good thing in your current situation. Remember that every season has grace, growth, and good – but you have to position your heart to see it.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What fruit am I missing in my current season because I’m focused on the past or future?
• How can I honor God with the best part of what I have right now, even if it’s not perfect?
• What do I need to release to God so I can fully embrace the good in my present circumstances?
• How am I positioning my heart – toward gratitude or toward complaint?

Remember, you will either leave this season with gratitude or regret, with honor or resentment, worshiping or whining. The choice is yours, and it starts with finding the fruit that God has placed in your current season.