Your circumstances may shape how you grow, but they don’t change who God created you to be.
Have you ever had that moment where you sat back, looked at something, and thought what in the world is that?!
Spring of 2021 I had that exact moment. About eight months after buying my house I stood in the middle of my backyard bewildered and deep in thought.
My sharp yet lush, green juniper bushes were becoming unruly and I knew I needed to do something about it. I knew if I continued to let them grow the way they are they would reach the top of my fence and become completely unmanageable.
It was early in the morning, dew moistened grass sat underneath my bare feet, and a hot cup of coffee in my hand steaming as the heat rose from my favorite Jesus + Coffee mug. Taking a gentle sip to avoid burning my mouth, I tilted my head slightly to the side.
What is that? I wondered, staring at my bushes.
In the middle of my overgrown, unsightly juniper bushes stood a mysterious branch that I had never noticed before. Tilting slightly to the right, it didn’t have many branches but had large, slightly wilted green-yellow leaves hanging down.
Whatever it was, the poor thing looked like it had not been watered in quite some time….
To be fair, I didn’t even know it existed until that moment.
The Mystery Tree
Days turned to weeks as I revisited this mysterious branch, waiting for it to reveal itself. Until one day I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to solve the mystery of this garden invader.
Finding a random plant identifier app on my phone, I stood in my back yard yet again and hit download. The wheel turned round and round as the app downloaded in the slowest of fashions… kind of like the DMV sloth in the cartoon Zootopia. Slooooow.
Ding-ding. My phone notifications chimed to tell me my app was ready.
I pulled up the camera, snapped a picture, and waited with anticipation to finally discover what this mysterious plant was.
Nearly as fast as I uploaded the picture, the app had an answer. “Withered peach tree”, the app read. “Click here to diagnose your plant.”
Yikes, even the app knew it needed help. Poor thing.
Peaches? I thought to myself. That would have been nice to know.
How long would this little tree continue to wither in my back yard before I recognized that it was in fact a fruit tree. Would it have ever been able to bear the fruit it was made to produce? And what was holding it back?
When Your Environment Chokes Your Growth
Immediately, I noticed its environment was preventing it from growing into a vibrant peach tree. The junipers were overgrown, invasive, and choking the poor thing. It barely stood a chance.
My eyes shifted slightly as I noticed that directly to its right stood a valiant, strong, and mighty apple tree with strong white blooms that would eventually turn into fruit. In the same environment the apple tree was thriving while the peach tree was suffering.
The difference between the two? Time.
The apple tree grew year after year, strong and healthy. It was watered, it received sunlight as its large branches stretched over the landscape, and it was very clearly an apple tree. The juniper bushes, though invasive, were no match to the roots of the apple tree that burrowed deep into the soil, continuously reaching the nutrients it needed to keep its strength.
As I stood there examining these two trees side by side I realized something…
We are trees.
Life has a tendency to choke us out from time to time, to smother us, to suck the life out of us. Sometimes our environment or the people we are around drain us to the point where it feels impossible to grow. But the thing I realized was that just like the apple and peach trees, our circumstances may influence how we grow, but it can never change who our Creator designed us to be.
You Are Still What God Planted
That little peach tree was still a peach tree, even though it didn’t look like one. Its withered branches may not have been as strong and solid as they were made to be. It may not have produced any fruit that I could see, but it didn’t make it any less of a peach tree. And though I could not see its immediate, outward value as a withered mystery tree, it did not mean that it changed its God-given purpose or value.
Both of these trees, both the withered and the strong are exactly what Jesus spoke about when he told the parable of the seeds.
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no roots. Other seeds fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
Still other seeds fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matthew 13:3-9)
Many people hear this and think, “we can’t help where we are planted”. And sometimes that’s true. We don’t get to choose every circumstance, every loss, every hardship, or every environment we’re placed in. But we can choose where we root ourselves.
When we choose to nurture our souls by feeding on the Bread of Life, drinking the living water only Jesus gives, and basking in the light of God’s presence, our roots grow deeper in Him. And when our roots are firmly planted in Christ, we can continue to grow even when the environment around us isn’t ideal. Like the strong and stable apple tree, we too can bear the fruit that God has called us to bear.
Where You Are Planted Matters
Just like the peach tree, life may bring us hardships, and our circumstances may choke us from time to time. But neither our circumstances nor our seasons of struggle can change who God created us to be. We may feel withered. We may feel hidden. We may even forget what we’re capable of. But our condition does not change our identity. God knows exactly what He planted in us.
Eventually the peach tree would become strong too. It just needed time to grow… just like we do.
As Jesus says…
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.” — John 15:4
Don’t Measure Your Growth by the Tree Beside You
Maybe you’re looking around at your life right now and wondering why you don’t look like the person you thought you would be by now.
Maybe someone beside you seems stronger, healthier, more fruitful, or simply farther ahead.
Maybe your circumstances have left you feeling hidden, overlooked, or even forgotten.
But remember the peach tree.
It was still a peach tree—even when it didn’t look like one.
The overgrown junipers couldn’t change what it was created to be.
The apple tree growing beside it couldn’t change what it was created to be.
And the fact that it needed more time couldn’t change what it was created to be.
Neither can your circumstances.
Neither can your losses.
Neither can the people around you.
And neither can the seasons when you feel like you’re not growing at all.
Your condition does not change your identity.
You are still who God created you to be.
So don’t measure your worth by the tree growing beside you. Don’t assume you’re behind because someone else’s branches look fuller or their fruit seems to have come sooner.
You don’t have to grow on someone else’s timeline to fulfill the purpose God planted inside of you.
Root yourself in Him.
Remain in Him.
Let Him nourish what He planted in you.
And trust that what may look withered today is not necessarily what it will look like forever. The peach tree just needed time to grow….
And maybe you do, too.
Reflect
Where have you allowed your circumstances or comparison to make you question who God created you to be?
Take that question to God today. Ask Him to help you see yourself through His eyes—not through the circumstances surrounding you.
If this devotional spoke to you, share it with a woman who needs the reminder that her circumstances don’t define her.
