Seasons of Waiting

Read: Galatians 6

"Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in good time we will reap if we do not grow weary." Galatians 6:9

Examine:

God's promise is that a man will reap what he sows. In The verse previous to this one, Paul reminds the Galatians that God will not be mocked. His promises will come to be. A good harvest takes time and the full harvest is never promised in this life; but the delay can never be mistaken as abandonment. In seasons of waiting a believer must focus on not losing heart.

Apply:

There are three seeds I see in this chapter that often seem to take a long time to mature into a harvest. The first is the seed of restoration. The call in verses one and two of this chapter is to gently confront people with the truth when they miss it. God clearly calls me to pay attention to the people in my life and gently speak the truth to them when they live counter to it. People's reactions are not always predictable and the change is often slow in coming. The pain of confrontation can become overwhelming. The work may be tedious, taxing, and tiring but it is a work to which God has called me. I must always call people to the truth.

The second seed is the seed of personal growth in Christ. Verses three - five call me to hold a sober self-assessment and grow in my likeness to Christ. There are days this labor appears to produce no fruit. I get up to pray and I hear nothing. I ask God to change me and temptations seem to grow. I open the Word and I struggle to comprehend it. I take steps of faith and feel as if I fall through and crash hard. What growth does take place is so incremental that it is often hard to notice the changes. In seasons of waiting or silence I must remember that God will be faithful to complete the work He started in me. The harvest will come.

The final slow growing seed I see in this text is the seed of financial support. Verse ten calls me to sow this seed to all people; especially to people of faith. Some teaching that has become popular has taken this verse and literally whored it out for personal gain. That is not Biblical. God does not ask me to give so that I can gain. He asks me so take what has been given to me and leverage it into His work in the lives of others and trust that He will see what is done in secret and produce the proper harvest at the proper time. God is not a get-rich strategy. He does not give to me so that I may hoard and there are often seasons in which I give and then feel like I suffer lack. His call on my life is to open my checkbook and joyfully give as He presents opportunities to do so regardless of my perceptions about the harvest.

Pray:

Father I grumble against You about the harvest in my life. I feel that conviction deep in my heart. There are many days that I behave exactly like a spoiled child. My emotions run hot when I am forced to wait or work with no return. While awaiting the harvest I often I fall apart, become frustrated, and fight feelings of abandonment. In these moments I often feel like You are not real and this whole following after Christ thing is just a scam.

I sit here this morning and I am literally laughing at myself as I view my tantrums through the holiness of Your Word and imagine how silly it is to see a grown man act like a child. I so appreciate Your patience with me. You are so gentle with me even when I lash out at You. I am grateful for Your promise that You will never leave me nor forsake me. I rest in the fact that You are the one in our relationship who is forever faithful. I submit myself to the truth that I will reap a good harvest as long as I do not grow weary in sowing good seed.