Plant Today, Then Be Patient for the Harvest
By Rick Warren
“Let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest” (Galatians 6:9 GNT).
The time to start planting is now.
I talk to people all the time who say, “One of these days, I’m going to . . . .” They’re going to serve more one of these days. Or when they retire. Or when they get a raise. They’re going to increase their giving one of these days.
“One of these days” is none of these days. You don’t wait for things to get better; you start planting now. Why? Because the sooner you plant, the longer you’re going to enjoy the harvest in your life.
But the harvest is not always going to come in your time. There’s always a delay between sowing and reaping. You plant in one season, and you harvest in another.
You have to be patient and not give up!
This is one of the principles that the Kingdom of God operates on. In Mark 4:26-28, Jesus says, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed spouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain — first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head” (NIV).
The results will come, but they will come slowly and as part of a process. And because it takes time, “Let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest” (Galatians 6:9 GNT).
Choose to forget about last year’s crop failure. Instead, start focusing on the long-term harvest in your life. You didn’t get the way you are financially overnight. You took years to mess things up, and it’s going to take a while to put things back together. There is a time of delay between sowing and reaping.
The Bible says in Psalm 126:5-6, “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest” (NLT).
What need have you been grieving over? Maybe you’ve lost your job. Maybe you’ve lost your health. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one. Maybe you’ve lost your savings. Maybe you’ve lost half of your retirement in the last few years. Maybe you’ve lost your dream.
Mourning is okay; moaning is not. Instead of moaning, you need to plant a seed, because whatever you need more of, you need to give away.
Today is the day to plant the seed.
Talk It Over
If you could give financial advice to your younger self, what would you say? What can you learn from your financial mistakes that you can apply to your situation now?
What would you have time to start doing today to move forward with your finances if you were able to let go of your past mistakes and financial failures?
What do you want to receive more of in your life? How can you plant that seed and give yourself away today so that you will one day reap your own harvest?
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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