Last week, I was on FaceTime to my best friend and we were speaking about cranberry juice. We were discussing how much we like it and the specific benefits cranberries have that draw us to drink it. That’s when he asked Do you know how cranberries grow? On trees? I responded. No, they grow in water, on low vines in bogs and wetlands he said. Huh?! I replied. I was shocked! He then shared his screen and pulled up a video on cranberry farms and how they are harvested, and I was genuinely flabbergasted at the process and the length of time it takes for cranberries to fully ripen.
Watching this process reminded me so much of our lives as Christians.
Cranberries are known for being incredibly beneficial to the body. They are rich in antioxidants, support the immune system, help fight bacteria, support heart health, assist with regulating the blood, and even help cleanse toxins from the body. Something so small carries so much value and healing!
But what amazed me most was the time and process it undergoes to become that beneficial fruit.
Cranberries do not grow overnight. They go through MONTHS of development before they are ready to be harvested. They endure changing weather, rough conditions, and eventually a harvest process that looks intense and uncomfortable. The bogs are flooded, the vines are shaken, and the berries are knocked loose before they finally rise to the surface.
And immediately I thought, Wow… this is so much like the Christian walk.
Many of us come to Christ expecting life to suddenly become easy, smooth, and comfortable. But often, after deciding to walk with God, we encounter even more trials, obstacles, temptation, discouragement, and spiritual warfare. The enemy sees your potential and wants to stop your growth before the fruit in your life can bless others.
But just like the cranberry, the process is producing something valuable.
The pressure is producing perseverance.
The trials are producing character.
The hardship is strengthening your faith.
And the difficult seasons are drawing you closer to Christ.
Sometimes God allows us to go through seasons that shake us. Seasons that flood our lives with uncertainty, pain, waiting, or disappointment. Yet even in those moments, God is still working. The shaking is not to destroy us, but to prepare us, refine us, and bring out what He placed inside of us all along.
The benefits of cranberries is truly beautiful. They heal, strengthen, cleanse, and nourish those who consume them. In the same way, the trials we endure as Christians are not only about us. Through remaining faithful to God in difficult seasons, we touch lives we may never even fully realise on this side of eternity.
Things we do without even thinking twice can have such a significant impact on others’ lives. Someone is encouraged because you kept praying. Someone is strengthened because you kept believing. Someone sees Christ more clearly because of the way you endured hardship with such faith!
Your process has purpose, even if you can’t see it.
And one day, when we finally meet Jesus face to face, I truly believe we will see the full impact of every prayer, every tear, every act of obedience, and every difficult season we endured while holding onto Him.
So if you are in a difficult season right now, please don’t give up.
God is still producing fruit in you.
And the very thing that feels uncomfortable may be the thing God uses to bring healing, hope, and life to others.
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5 NIV
Heavenly Father, help us to endure patiently and bear good fruit for You, like the cranberry vine. Amen.
SL