Have you ever felt yourself growing weary in your current circumstances and wondered when the time will come when you will reap the fruit of your labor? When the hard times come it’s easy to grow discouraged and lose strength to press on when it seems there is no end in sight. Often times it feels like we’ve planted our “crop” and we’ve been waiting, what seems like forever, to see some sign of growth. Maybe storms have come and impacted your “crop” and you’ve had to continually start over. Sometimes life’s trials knock us down and it’s difficult to rise up once again after feeling so weak, but the strength of our “roots” will lead to a successful crop that can stand against life’s storms. Even through the worst of circumstances that we encounter we can rely on God as our source. He is our stronghold in times of despair, and when the storm has passed we will see He was growing us all along.
Sometimes we overlook God’s blessing of harvest in our lives because we are looking in the wrong places. I have found when God helps me overcome a trial I find it easy to praise and thank Him, but as time goes on I quickly forget all He has done. I focus more on my present circumstances and question where He is now, instead of remembering all the ways He has worked in the past. I fail to remember that He was always working for my best and I easily get discouraged that this time maybe He’s not looking out for me and has forgotten me.
God never forgets us. We’re never put on hold or rejected by Him, and what we’ve done for Him will certainly never go unnoticed. Sometimes the deep wounds on our hearts seem like they are only ours to bear, but God never said we were in it alone. It is often doing the right thing that leads us down the hardest roads full of pain and suffering. It is during these times that we grow weary in following after God and struggle to trust Him when the world so easily entraps us with temptations of worry, doubt and things we think will satisfy the longing on our hearts (Galatians 6:9).
I love how Psalm 1:1-3 states that those who delight in God will be blessed and will yield fruit in due season. God’s perfect timing doesn’t always make sense to us, but He’s always working in our lives. We all have unique seasons of our life to grow in. Some may feel like seasons of waiting, discouragement, silence and frustration, but through each season we can learn something. Nothing we go through is wasted time. Just as God has times to strengthen and grow us, He too will bless us and provide us with blessings of harvest.
I have found that following after God brings so much more long-lasting satisfaction than living for myself. Looking back over the past 24 years of my life I can see that there were things I desired, but God had different plans. Although it led to a harder and more painful life, I can see that He had purpose for each circumstance I went through. Our suffering, hard work and determination may feel like it’s being overlooked, but God sees every heartbreak and tear we cry. He has been by our side through it all and everything we do for Him is worth it. The very things that felt like they were breaking our heart are the things God is using to strengthen us into amazing instruments for Him. We may not reap our harvest of obedience down here on earth, but we will be recognized for our commitment to Him. Our pain and suffering we are facing never goes unnoticed. God sees it all. He’s got you right in His hand and when you are following after Him you are right where you need to be.