One More Chance: Give It Time, Attention, Grace

Jesus tells a short story with a lot of weight in it. A man plants a fig tree, comes again and again looking for fruit, and finds nothing but disappointment. The owner says, “Cut it down. It’s just taking up space.” The gardener says, “Give it one more chance.” That little line carries the whole burden: not everything fruitless is finished, and not everything slow is dead.

The fig tree stands for those places that have had prayer, faith, effort, tears, and still not much to show for it. The three years speak of expectation, inspection, and disappointment. The temptation says, “Cut it down. Stop praying. Stop believing. Stop sowing. Stop pressing on.” But God brings another voice into the garden, a voice that sees fruit when failure is all that seems visible, and possibility when exhaustion has set in.

The gardener does not offer cheap optimism. The gardener asks for more time, more attention, and more grace. The tree will not just be left alone to magically improve. It will be dug around, fertilized, cultivated, and cared for. The word is not laziness dressed up as faith. The word is endurance with action, prayer with discipline, and hope with hands in the dirt.

The missionary in the jungle shows what one more chance can become. Three years without one soul looked like wasted time. Spears, stones, machetes, and thick bush all said quit. But staying faithful opened the way to hundreds of churches, mighty miracles, and even a prophetic healing decades later through a red handkerchief. The year that looked like the quitting year became the seed year.

The withered hand in Mark 3 shows the same thing. Jesus asks for the part that is not working, not the part that still looks strong. The command is “stretch it out,” even if it has been stretched before and nothing happened. Habakkuk says the vision may seem slow, but it will surely come. Hebrews says confidence must not be thrown away, because endurance stands between promise and possession.

God’s mercy becomes most vivid in the story of a broken father chained to alcohol, desperate enough to ask a prison to lock him up. The mercy of God meets the man who has tried everything else and finally cries out, “If you are real, please help me.” Christ does what doctors, programs, and willpower could not do. One more chance becomes deliverance, salvation, and a whole family changed.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Fruitless does not mean finished The fig tree had no fruit for three years, but the gardener still saw a future worth fighting for. God’s patience is not denial of the problem, because the barrenness is named clearly. Yet mercy can stand between disappointment and destruction, asking for one more season before the axe falls. [74:21]
• 2. Grace digs around the roots The gardener does not merely give the tree more time, he gives it special attention and fertilizer. Grace is not passive softness, but holy cultivation around the hidden places where life is meant to rise. A marriage, calling, habit, body, or prayer life may need more attention, not immediate removal. [84:59]
• 3. Endurance may unlock hidden appointments The missionary wanted to quit after three years of no visible fruit, but staying faithful carried him into works of God he could not have imagined. A later healing in Germany was tied to the very year he almost walked away. Some promises are waiting on the other side of ordinary, bruising faithfulness. [83:36]
• 4. Stretch what is not working Jesus asked the man to stretch out the withered hand, the very part that had failed him. Faith often brings the broken place back into the presence of Christ instead of hiding it in shame. Repeated prayer is not unbelief when it keeps presenting the need to the One who heals. [88:54]
• 5. Mercy can break old chains The broken father had tried prison, doctors, medication, and Alcoholics Anonymous, but mercy met him when he finally cried out to God. Christ did not improve the addiction, he broke its hold. One desperate prayer became the doorway into freedom that human effort could not manufacture.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [66:12] - Luke 13 and the Fig Tree
• [68:47] - One More Chance
• [72:45] - When Nothing Seems To Change
• [74:21] - Give It One More Year
• [75:35] - The Missionary Who Wanted To Quit
• [80:10] - Faithfulness After 1979
• [84:59] - Time, Attention, and Grace
• [87:19] - One More Invitation
• [88:54] - Stretch Out the Withered Hand
• [90:29] - Speaking Life Until Breakthrough
• [95:50] - A Family Needing Mercy
• [99:16] - Salvation Comes to the House
• [103:08] - A Call to Give Life to Christ
• [108:13] - Praying for Change and Breakthrough

Bible Reading

Luke 13:6-9
“He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.” [01:06:57]

Mark 3:1-6
“And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.” [01:28:54]

Habakkuk 2:3
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” [01:26:45]

Hebrews 10:35-36
“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” [01:27:00]

Observation questions

1. In Luke 13, what does the owner say about the fig tree after three years, and what exactly does the gardener ask to do instead? [01:24:53]
2. In the fig tree story, what three things are offered instead of cutting the tree down? [01:24:59]
3. In Mark 3, what part of the man does Jesus tell him to stretch out, and why is that detail so important in this passage? [01:29:05]
4. What are some of the situations that can start to feel like a fruitless fig tree—areas where there has been prayer, effort, and waiting, but little visible change? [01:12:48]

Interpretation questions

1. The gardener does not deny that the tree is barren, but still asks for more time. What does that show about how mercy and truth work together? [01:14:42]
2. The fig tree is not helped by neglect but by digging, fertilizer, and special attention. What does that suggest about the difference between biblical hope and passive wishful thinking? [01:28:23]
3. Jesus tells the man to stretch out the withered hand, not the healthy one. Why does faith so often involve bringing the weakest and most disappointing part of life into the presence of Christ? [01:29:20]
4. Hebrews says endurance stands between doing the will of God and receiving the promise. Why is it so easy to throw away confidence when fruit is delayed? [01:27:00]

Application questions

1. What is one area of life right now that feels like “three years and no fruit”? Is it a relationship, a prayer burden, a habit, a calling, or something else? What makes that area especially hard to keep bringing before God? [01:13:10]
2. “Give it one more chance” is not a call to denial but to faithful action. What might “more time, more attention, and more grace” look like in one specific area of life this week? [01:24:59]
3. Some things do not need to be cut down first; they need special attention. Where might more intentional care be needed—in marriage, parenting, health, finances, or time in the Word? What would special attention look like there? [01:25:45]
4. Jesus asks for the withered hand. What is the part of life that is easiest to hide because it feels weak, embarrassing, or disappointing? What would it look like to stretch that out before Christ instead of covering it up? [01:28:54]
5. Confidence can be thrown away just before breakthrough. When discouragement sets in, what usually tempts a person to stop praying, stop believing, or stop trying? How can the group help one another keep going? [01:13:52]
6. Mercy met a desperate man when he finally cried out, “If You are real, please help me.” Is there any area where human effort has been exhausted and a deeper cry for God’s mercy is needed? [01:41:35]
7. One more invitation can change a life. Who comes to mind right now that may need one more conversation, one more encouragement, or one more invitation? What has made it difficult to reach out again? [01:27:40]