My teenage years were spent in a house on the mill hill in Greer, SC. Every year (that I can remember) living in that house, my Dad had a garden. Well…..it was his garden but he had my brother and I do most of the work 😊 In the early spring we would always set about preparing the ground with a tiller, planting seedlings, and nurturing those plants throughout the summer with water and fertilizer. Farming is hard work. Most do it because of the payout. Anyone who plants a garden of any kind walks into the situation with an expectation of a specific outcome or harvest. All farmers begin the process of sowing with the end in mind. They have learned that their expectations must drive their habits. If there are specific things you expect to have by the end of the year, you must plan and prepare by sowing the right seeds/seedlings. In our case, my Dad did so with the intention of eating those vegetables throughout the rest of the year and into winter. While it would have been nice, never once did we plant the garden in the morning and end up with a harvest by the end of the same day. The harvest came over time, after we had put a lot of hard work into it.
Galatians 6:7-9 states, “7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” While this scripture was written by the Apostle Paul to address a certain issue, there is an important principle being presented here regarding sowing and reaping. The ideal of sowing and reaping is found throughout the Bible beginning as early as Genesis 3. As believers, essentially, we are farmers for the kingdom. There are important lessons that we would do well to learn from this scripture. 1. What you reap (plant) is what you will sow (harvest). 2. Reaping and sowing will always happen in different seasons. 3. You will get tired. 4. Most importantly, there is a DUE SEASON. Your due season is an expected time when something that is rightfully yours is received or comes to fruition. It can be seeds you have planted attempted to lead unbelievers to a saving knowledge of Christ or any number of things including a promise you received from the Holy Spirit (a blessing of some sort, a physical/mental/spiritual/financial healing).
Closing remarks and encouragement: The work we do for the kingdom of God can be tiring both mentally and spiritually. Be assured, the closer you get to fulfillment of your due season, the enemy will cause you problems. His only intentions are to steal, kill, and destroy. He will do everything in his power to prevent you from entering your due season. But if you “faint not,” you will reap a harvest. Your due season could be right around the corner. Don’t give up! Keep pressing on, my friends! God has something wonderful waiting for you on the other side of that battle. And remember, the enemy wouldn’t be fighting you so hard if there weren’t spoils (blessings) that await you. PRESS ON!!!
Have a blessed week, my friends!
Photo by Sushobhan Badhai on Unsplash