Mark 11:12 Now the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. [NET]
Mark 11: 20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” 22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. [NET]
Ever had sin in your life? You know the sin that you just cannot seem to get rid of. It just seems to dominate you and never gives you rest. It seems to defeat you at every turn and in every circumstance. You see it coming, and you are somehow triggered. You find yourself back in that place you vowed never to be in again.
Well, I have had this experience in my life. It is a silent desperation. In your mind, it is a play-by-play re-run of condemnation. It is exhausting. You feel you are a failure. It is always accusing and always reminding you. It demolishes your hope in the promises of the Lord.
First, you probably tried to justify it in some way. Then, just resign yourself to trying to minimize it in your life. But that gave you no relief and no peace.
So here you are, defeated. Wondering why is this sin here? Why can you not stop this?
The Origin
All through my life, and probably yours as well. Someone treated you badly. Ignored you, put you down, used you, discriminated against you, broke your heart, excluded you, hurt you, broke your trust, or even worse.
These things are devastating and create deep wounds. Most everyone just buries them, puts them away. Everyone has these wounds, and we all hide them. Almost no one deals with these hurts in the correct way.
You harden your heart and cover your hurt. You get bitter. You try to compensate in any way that will lessen that hurt. You have planted seeds in your heart and they start to grow.
What are these seeds? They are seeds of bitterness, fear, anger, lust, hate, jealousy, envy. As you keep this hurt and unforgiveness, these seeds begin to take root and spring up.
A Tree Sprang Up
This tree sprang to life, it gives no fruit. It just takes and takes. It is selfish and gives nothing in return. It seeks its own and will dominate you. The longer it is allowed to stay, the bigger it grows until it influences your emotions and defeats your will.
I know. I have had this tree.
You have been defeated by it and had no answer to overcome it. In fact, you did not even know it was there because you had pushed the past so far down.
But you decided, one way or another, you would overcome this. After all, you have overcome many things in your life. You will just put your mind to it and by your will defeat this tree. Defeat this sin.
Removing the Tree
If you are like me, you try to remove this tree in your own strength.. You set your will, and you gather your strength. You pick up your axe and chop and chop. You succeed, and you cut it back to the ground.
For a short time, it seems to work. You feel as if you have gained control. But it keeps growing back. You keep cutting it back, and it keeps coming back.
Have you ever tried to chop down a tree with your own strength? Dig up a root with your own strength? It is brutal, hard work. It doesn’t take long until you are exhausted. If you do not get all the root it will come back and your effort wasted. I even got a tractor once and pulled a tree up. But it left a big hole, a wound, a scar.
So you say to yourself, “I will stop doing this. I will be diligent. I will rebuke satan. I will control myself. I will avoid this. I will pray and pray. I will read the word. I will, I will, I will.”
You may last for a while. But this work is exhausting, and you are not really addressing the real problem. The root of the problem. Though you may have resisted the tree and cut it back. The roots are still there, and the tree grows back.
So you cry out, “Will this ever end? Will this ever go away?”
“I cannot do this. I don’t know how.” That is your problem. You think you need to know how.
Just Give it to Jesus.
Put down the axe, put down the shovel.
Now, it is time to come to Him. Come to Him in weakness after all your strength has failed you. After all your check list of things to do and say have not worked. Come to Him and give Him your heart. Allow Him to show you the hurt and the hardness and bitterness of your heart. Allow Him to show you the root cause.
If you need help, find a spiritually mature Christian that can help you. Have them pray with you. Allow the Lord to open your heart and be vulnerable before Him. This is not easy, but it is the way to freedom. Be courageous and be vulnerable.
Confess to Him your sin out loud. Let go of your hurt and give it to Him. Tell Him of all your hurt. Tell it all. Ask for forgiveness for hardening your heart. Forgive those who have hurt you. No matter how hard it is to forgive them. Forgive them. Speak forgiveness to them. Speak blessing on them.
Trust Him and step out and do this. As he told Peter, “Have faith in God.”
There will be no condemnation. He is overjoyed that you have come to Him. He has been waiting patiently. He is rejoicing.
Jesus Dries up the Root
Jesus will dry up the root of this tree. He dries up the root and leaves no scar.
The tree withers and dies, as in the story of the fig tree. It takes time to see the effect once the root dies. It takes time for those habits generated by that root to wither away. But they will wither away because the root that fed them is gone.
That root simply dries up and disappears. Never to come back. Never to control and dominate you again.
Then, one day, you notice that weakness is no longer there. It no longer dominates you. You have forgotten about it. You realize you are free, and He has done this.
If you will come before Jesus, open and vulnerable, He will do this for you. He did it for me.