There are expectations of reaping immediately from that which we sow. The reality is that we will receive when the harvest is ready.

My wife is an amateur gardener. Really more of an experimenter. We only have a small yard in a housing subdivision and therefore do not have the room to have a real garden. We only have room for a couple things that will feed the two of us for a meal or two. She will plant in the right time, tomatoes, peppers, and other items that will really just accent our meals. The one thing she is very well aware of is that these things take time. One of the items she relishes to see develop is her lemons. If you don’t know, lemons take months, not days or weeks to develop. It can take 6 months from the flowering to the ripening of the lemon. And Lori waits patiently, checking in on the lemons daily, even as there will be little to no change noticeable each day. The same can be said with everything else we sow.

I have to remember to just sow that which is good in the eyes of the LORD and know that He will cultivate and ripen those things to the point of harvest time. I am not able to rush them along and in the process I may be saddened and working through some hardships of my own only to realize the glory of the LORD at the point of harvest.

“⁵Those who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy!

⁶He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.”

— Psalm 126:5-6 (ESV)

When it is time for the harvest, I will shout and be completely joyous as the reaping can now begin. I will have realized the glory of God, in His time and not my own. I will have gone through the times of waiting and caring and cultivating.

Notice in the verses above the sweetness that is realized in the reaping. That sweetness is due to the ripening that could only have been realized thanks to the time it took. Lori’s lemons are so much sweeter thanks to the time waiting and caring and cultivating them. The anticipation of the harvest created even more flavor than would have been found with the simple grocery store purchase of lemons.

I have to remember that the sowing of seeds for the LORD is just the beginning. There is the time of waiting and caring and cultivating that will bring the seeds to the time of harvest and then I will be able to full enjoy the sweet glory that comes with the realization of God’s Work being completed for His glory and not my own.

What are you out there sowing? Are you looking for the immediate growth and the ability to reap as you sow? What if you were to sow and things wait and care and cultivate the seeds that are the work of God and experience the sweet glory at the time of harvest?