A Season of Waiting is Key to a Plentiful Harvest

By: Sarah Martin

Not too long ago, I wrote one of my blog posts on how “The Wilderness Leads to the Promise”. I discussed the matter on how Joseph went through a variety of trials and tribulations for many years. During this time, he was waiting and waiting for the promise to come to pass (and as we know, it did). Like Joseph and other people in the bible, such as Moses and David (to name a few out of the numerous examples), many times we may find ourselves in a waiting season in our lives. Of course, the waiting period could look differently for each individual, but there is one common factor. Preparation. During the waiting season, God was not only preparing what awaited His faithful servants at the end of their journeys, He was also developing, maturing, and equipping their character at the same time. The preparation that God was doing in Joseph, Moses, and David, He does in us through our season of trials and waiting. The one thing that usually occurs at this time is that we expect God’s plan to take action at any moment; we are waiting for Him to do a great move in some way, shape, or form right now. But you see, God’s timing is different from ours. Look at Joseph in the prison. Joseph said to the cupbearer, “But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison” (Genesis 40:14). Joseph didn’t want to wait anymore—he wanted out of this season of tribulations, but it wasn’t God’s time yet. In fact, it wasn’t until two years later that the cupbearer remembered and spoke to Pharaoh about Joseph’s gift of interpreting dreams. Think of it. When the cupbearer told Pharaoh about Joseph and his gift, it so happened to be the time when Pharaoh was having disturbing dreams. So, if Joseph would have gotten out of the prison when he wanted to, would he have entered the authority and honour God had promised him?

Let’s consider a farmer growing crops. The farmer first plants the seeds, waters and nourishes them, and then he must wait for the crops to mature. In this time period, the plants are growing as the farmer continues tending to them, until they finally become fully developed and the harvest can occur. Well, the farmer didn’t gather the crops earlier than the harvest season because they were not ripe enough and would not have been ready to use. Neither did the farmer wait too long to collect the crops or else they would have perished. The farmer claimed his crops at just the right time so there would be an abundant harvest, but the season of preparation and waiting had to occur before the harvest. God does the same thing as the farmer. He plants the seed within our hearts, He nourishes it, and then as we begin to grow, God equips us and gradually works bit by bit in our lives. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”. I want to encourage you to NOT give up in your season of waiting and preparation because when it comes time to receive the blessing, it will be plentiful. The blessing and the harvest will be abundant, not because of our time, but rather God’s, which is His absolute, perfect timing.