At this time of year I am talking with students whose grades at not that great. The most effective phrase I've found is "you have to be here anyway, so why don't you just do this...' And then the next class, I praise their efforts and add a little more and so on until they get traction. Then I back off and they are ok. It doesn't always work but when it does, it's fun to see. As humans we sometimes get overcome by a large task and stop doing anything. It's important to make just a little progress each day. Before you know it, you'll have some figs!
What are your figs? How can you get some traction?
Here's what Google says about fig trees: "Expect many cultivars of fig trees to produce fruit twice each growing season, but be patient as you need to wait several years before the first crop." So you must have been reading Jesus right when you understood this passage to be about patience, encouragement, and an enduring belief in something/someone who doesn't seem to be delivering the goods--yet! May the Lord be as patient with us all!
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