I have a brave friend who, in the midst of a very long trial, is asking herself a great question:
"What’s the fruit?"
It’s her way of looking for the ways her trials are transforming her and also bringing good into the world despite unrelenting challenges.
When she posed that question —
What’s the fruit?
— I pictured the three letters
WTF.
I told her that from now on when I see texts or tweets with WTF I will read them as “What’s the fruit?” We laughed, but there really is a beautiful gift in this. The original WTF is, as you know, blunt and not very kid-friendly. The original WTF accompanies riotous shouts in the face of civil unrest, for example. But what if we paused to look within ourselves and consider the lovingly persistent work God is doing to refine and grow us in the midst of pandemics and pandemonium? We would be wise to ask what fruit God is bringing to life within us. Could it be that God can use the heavy rains of injustice to water seeds and saplings that will eventually bear life-giving fruit? If so…WTF…what’s the fruit?
Anger swells due to centuries of racial injustice, punctuated by appalling images in recent weeks. Anxiety caused by three months of lonely sheltering in place. Fears of looming economic meltdowns, nationwide protests and interpersonal mayhem. WTF. What’s the fruit that God is producing in you, and how could it nourish a hangry world?
