Boldly Walk On

https://youtu.be/3TM-daXqYAA

“Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if He would find anything on it. But He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “No one will ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening [to what He said]...In the morning, as they were passing by, the disciples saw that the fig tree had withered away from the roots up. And remembering, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi (Master), look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered!” Jesus replied, “Have faith in God [constantly]. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart [in God’s unlimited power], but believes that what he says is going to take place, it will be done for him [in accordance with God’s will]. For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer [in accordance with God’s will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you.”

— ‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:13-14 & 20-24

For the longest time this passage in Mark has baffled me. It has felt like it is a passage that belongs more in the Old Testament, rather than the New. It is, after all, the only time we see Jesus destroy rather than restore. We are so used to seeing Him heal that to see Him curse is odd. Even off-putting. And that fact, for years, has thrown me. Until now. Call it the stage of life I am in. Call it the circumstances around me shifting my perspective. Or, call it, more than likely, just plain ol’ God’s timing. No matter what you call it, I finally see what God is teaching. At least what He is teaching me (and I pray, in turn, you too).

What, honestly, opened my heart to learn from this passage is the fact that the VOICE Bible Study Notes, helped clear up my main stumbling point of, what, to me, felt like, a knee jerk hangry response from Jesus. To curse a tree that didn’t produce fruit when it wasn’t the season for it?! Why would Jesus do that? According to the study notes, “The tree is “fully leafed out”—a stage that usually comes after figs are ripe and not before. Because the tree looks as though it ought to have fruit but doesn’t, it is a perfect illustration of people who believe they have the good fruit of righteousness even though their actions are void of true compassion and love, as empty and useless as leaves. And so Jesus curses the fig tree, not out of anger with the tree itself, but as a warning to hypocrites who think their appearance is more important than the fruit of their actions.” Oh. So that’s why?! The beautiful thing is, once God brought understanding to my heart on the “why” of it all, it opened up the ability for me to see so much more. The other lesson, outside of that amazing nugget of truth, that has been sitting there all along. Like, how a curse was actually a lesson for the disciples, and us, in abiding faith. Notice what Jesus does. After He cursed the tree, He keeps on moving. Going on to Jerusalem. He didn’t curse the tree and then sit there and ring His hands in worry wondering if it would be done. No. He walked away. His request or command, didn’t happen immediately. He didn’t see the tree wither before He moved on. But, Jesus trusted and had faith that what He spoke would be done. Why? Because He had “faith in God [constantly]” and He knew that He was living out what He would later say to the disciples in 11:24 - “For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer [in accordance with God’s will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you.” Jesus knew what He was asking to happen to that tree was in accordance with God’s will, so He had confident trust that He had received it.

How often do we do that? How often do you or I so boldly ask something of the Lord and just walk away trusting it will be done? Jesus didn’t even need to see the tree again. After all, it wasn’t Jesus that brought attention to the withered tree on the way back to Jerusalem. It was Peter. He was amazed. Not Jesus. Jesus knew He was in God’s will because He knew God. The same can be true for you and I. We can, before God in prayer, have confident trust in His ability and our alignment to His Will, because we have spent time with Him. We have been in His Word. Learning what His truths are. Which means, if what we ask of Him doesn’t conflict with His Word, what we know, from time spent with Him, is His truth, then we are “in accordance with His will”. So why do we keep fretting? Why do we ask then stare, unbelieving, that it will actually be done? Let us do away with prayers of selfishness. Prayers of fear. Prayers of misalignment with Who He is. Instead, let us believe, with confident trust, that what we ask will take place, because, like Jesus, we know Him, then, boldly walk on.