It is Time to Reap a Harvest

“It’s time.” 

These are the words that have kept appearing in my life the past few months. I’ve been seeking to figure out the meaning of them. “What is it time for, Lord?” has been a common question I have asked.

The past few months of this year (how is it already almost April?!) have been crazy! I was wanting to go ahead and submit my financial check-in information to secure my spot at Liberty. I had no peace about going forth with it though and felt God ask me to wait. I felt like I was in a waiting season. Waiting to know where I would be next year. Waiting to see nudges from God come to fruition in my life. Seriously, it has been a season of being stripped of me. God took me through a process of being humbled. The phrase “it’s not about me” kept racing through my mind. Being humbled and rid of myself was preparation for the seasons to come. 

I’ve been working on getting my first book published for a year now! Really, it has been a work in progress since 2015 when Undeniably His was born. As I changed schools this year and had an opportunity to do a senior project, I knew it was time this God-given dream of mine came to life. 

Writing became a way I connected with God and shared lessons He taught me as I first started forming my personal relationship with Him. God literally places seeds within us that don’t just stay seeds. They grow as they are nurtured, cared for, fed, and watered. I often think of a garden with this as well. For a plant to grow, weeds must be removed from its soil. Jesus is our Gardener. He is constantly seeking to improve, love, care for, and help us grow every single day! 

Galations 6:9 (NIV) has been a verse I have held onto, prayed, and recited countless times over the past year! It has become one of my life verses and 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.”

In high school, I have sometimes wondered if I am missing out on having “fun” because of not taking part in the usual high school experience. Before jumping into my freshman year, I thought I’d be the only girl with a commitment to not date in high school. While that commitment has sometimes felt tough to stay true to, I have never regretted making it! It has protected me from so much harm and so many compromising situations! I now look back over the last four years and realize I wouldn’t be who I am in Christ if I would have chosen to be distracted. I’ve been trusting in my Father to orchestrate His perfect plans in His perfect timing. I’ve been praying specific and detailed prayers for who God has for me to marry. I know we will not hinder one another in the plans and things God calls us to. Rather, we will be the most powerful team for the Lord with all of our gifts and passions combined.

My young self has witnessed SO many different seasons in my walk with God so far. There have been some deep valleys, some high hills, and other things in between. What I have discovered is that my God never leaves me. He never has and He never will. 

Maybe you are in a season of your life right now where you don’t know if your commitments are worth the sacrifices. You may be questioning if your life truly makes a difference in the lives of those around you. Should you keep baking and spreading encouragement even when it seems unappreciated? Will your marriage ever be healthy again? I’m not for sure what battle you are in right now, but I have got to tell you to keep fighting. Keep loving. Keep serving. Keep praying. Keep tucking your kids in. Keep showing your spouse grace even when you feel like they don’t deserve it. Let’s treat others how we want God to treat us. 

Galatians 6:9 reminds us, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

While I have been clinging onto this verse and praying it with everything within me, I haven’t actually realized that God was going to bring it to full fruition in my life! With only a few weeks left of high school, I see that the Lord has protected my feet from compromise. I’ve given myself fully to Him while waiting to see the plans He has for my future earthly love relationship come to life. I have continued to write cards of encouragement even when seeing no change in my peers. I’ve continued to read my Bible and pray even when I felt like sitting on the couch to do nothing.

These things are not to praise me in any way whatsoever. I share this with you because I have been seeing blessings poured out from God’s heart in my life this past week. Literally, one big thing after another has happened! What makes this even more significant is that I am doing the 40 Day Prayer Challenge by Mark Batterson again. It is so sweet to see God answer our prayers and guide and lead our steps.

In still not knowing where I was going to be at next year (whether at Liberty, in a missions program, or at my community college), I felt blind. I haven’t been able to see a path laid out before me.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (CSB) has meant something extra special to me this past week. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.” 

The CSB version of this verse says “know” instead of “submit.” This was something different than what I was used to hearing. I looked up what “know” means, and it basically refers to developing a relationship with someone by spending time with them. Instead of trying to rush to figure out the plans God has for my life, I have just focused more on spending quality time with Him. As He is my Father, I know He only has His very best for my life. He only has His very best for your life too, my friend. I know that we are so often hungry for answers. We seek to know the five-year-plan when Jesus really wants us to spend quality time with Him today. Our God is not going to let us miss out on a minute of the plans He has in store for our lives. Not a minute is He going to let us miss as we diligently seek Him. 

The King James Version of Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, my friend! Your long hours staying up praying for your child are not wasted. Our prayers keep being answered long after we are gone. I love to think of the impact of our prayers! We may never fully see the outcomes of the seeds we have planted in other people’s lives, but we must believe that we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9). 

I’ve been gardening away. Not physically, but spiritually. As my sweet Dad has helped me through some really tough times, I have seen Him toss eternal seed out of the course of my life with Him. I have tossed seeds out in abundance, hoping and trusting that God would tend to the soil of people’s hearts. He is the Gardener.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve really been pondering the “it’s time” phrase. I knew God was seeking to reveal something to me through it. After mentioning this to those closest to me, I woke up this morning and received the revelation.

What is it time for? It is the proper time I’m reaping the harvest for not becoming weary or giving up in doing good!

My prayer challenge devotional yesterday actually mentioned seeds! What stood out to me was that a seed produces the fruit of what the seed is. If I plant a watermelon seed, it’s going to produce a watermelon. The seeds we plant are extremely tiny, but they are one day going to produce massive results that have deep roots. Once we plant a seed, “it disappears for a season but eventually bears fruit that blesses future generations.” The most crucial growth of a seed takes place under the surface of what we can see. Seeds require every season and temperature to grow into the plants God made them to be. We never know when life is going to spring up and bud from the seeds. We must be patient as they are gardened though. We can’t give up on the seeds we plant just because we don’t see progress happening fast enough. We have to trust that God is in control, and that He carries the progress of the process.

I love how Mark Batterson said, “So in every seed, there isn’t just a tree; there is a forest of trees.”

Our Abba gave me a raw encounter with Him on the way home from our Victor kick off service. I felt Him pulling my heart to stay local next year to be a part of ministry opportunities He is bringing forth. My plans were being changed again, but I was more than okay with it since Jesus alone knows what is best for me. 

The Victor kick off service opened my heart to see and experience God work in new ways. He gave me a message to share and also produced a video. My pastor asked me to share the message in our church! I ended up speaking to my church family for both services on March 17th! I was able to declare God’s goodness and testify that He redeems us to use us in greater ways than we could ever fathom or imagine. Jesus connected me with a lady at my church whom I had never met before. I met with her this past week at my community college. She plays a vital role there and was used by God to prompt me in the plans He has for me. I was able to submit my application for the school and scholarships a few days before the deadline! I also found out I received a National Honor Society scholarship I had just dismissed as another one I didn’t get. The lady at the bank who stayed late to help me set up a checking account was at the church service I was humbled to speak at. Opportunities keep springing up!

I’ve kept telling the people closest to me about all of these things! It seems like the sky has opened and answers are coming.

Don’t think that my life is always sunshine and peonies though, brother or sister! These things have been prayed for. I know God has been developing and growing all of these things within me through times of tears, cries, pleas, and tough situations. 

Keep doing good. Keep loving Jesus. Keep staying true to the commitments you have made in Him. As you do, I can guarantee you that you will reap a harvest. DO NOT GIVE UP. Keep being different. Keep trusting God with the plans He has for you. Don’t expect to receive His answers in your timing. They will probably come when you least expect them to!

In Fully Consecrated, the name of my book, Galatians 6:9 has been the main verse I’ve wanted to share. It is even on some post cards I have ordered to hand out. As I was lying in my bed this morning, God gave me a realization that it is time to reap a harvest. While this season is one of seeing God bring things to life I have waited and prayed for, I know there are new things waiting to be planted in the fields of my life. The soil is going to have to be prepared and plowed again.

As I will soon be giving you more and more information on Fully Consecrated, please know that the seeds you are planting in other people’s lives are valuable. Know that your prayers are making a difference. Your season of waiting is not going to be wasted. It is preparing you for the plans God has for you.

I love you and know that more than any human ever will, God does. You are loved so very much, my friend. Never ever forget that. You are held. You are carried. You are adored. Let’s rest in the love God has for us. Let’s share it because it truly is contagious! Our God is good always! Even when we can’t see what He is doing and even when we question if He is working on our behalves, we must trust that He is! Our God is good, and He is faithful!!

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”