When we first moved into our house here in Novato in 2003, we inherited at least 8 mature fruit trees. Our favorite trees are the two Golden Delicious apples trees in our front yard. Aside from annual pruning, we’ve never really done much to them. They’ve just been fruitful, year after year, producing lots of apples that are, well, delicious.

I had never watered them, fertilized them, or sprayed them for pests. They just did very well on their own – until last year. The series of low rainfall drought years that we’ve had finally caught up with our apple trees. In 2014 the trees blossomed in the spring, but by summertime most of the apples had dropped, and at harvest there were just a few small apples to be picked.

This year I decided to water the trees for the first time in 12 years. I watered them about once per week through the summer, and the results have been amazing. At this point we’ve already picked well over 200 pounds of golden delicious apples from the two trees, and there are still more to be picked.

The front tree that normally produces more, but smaller apples, is producing HUGE apples. The back tree that is more shaded has also produced its largest apples ever. Watering made all the difference; I’m going to water them every season from now on!

The lesson is simple. I had wrongly assumed that the trees had enough water because they had always been fruitful. Now I’ve discovered that weekly extra watering helped the trees produce fruit to their full potential, and the potential was far greater than I expected.

Isaiah 58:11 says, The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

God wants our lives, like Isaiah says, to be well-watered gardens. We become abundantly fruitful and reach our full potential when there is consistent, regular watering.

Take some time for extra watering in your relationship with the Lord. Drink in God’s word. Soak in His Presence. Don’t settle for “good enough” when God has purposed abundant fruitfulness in your life. Get ready for more!