When the Harvest Seems Far Away By Juliana Gordan

My grandparents were farmers. We would visit them in the summer and would enjoy the tasty peaches and fresh corn. They were well known in the area and would sell their fruits and vegetables at the local farmer’s market and a small roadside stand. The unsold food would be canned to enjoy in the winter. They didn’t have a lot, but they made the most of what they had.

They didn’t plant seeds on Monday and expect the fruit to grow by Tuesday. That would have taken a miracle! Instead, they put the time and care into lives, planning out our version of their best lives, but tending their crops and saw the results, usually several months later. There were years when the harvest wasn’t what they expected, but the Lord provided and they got through those years.

As Christians, we often face difficult seasons where it seems like the harvest should be ready. “But Lord,” you might say, “I have prayed for this person for years. I have tried to reach them subtly. I have been super blunt about the Gospel. I have fasted, and I have had others pray with me. Why isn’t this person saved?” Our human nature wants to see patterns in life. We want a logical and satisfactory outcome when we put sincere and beneficial input into a problem. When our hard work does not equal the desired result, we wonder why life isn’t working out the way we want it to. We may question why God doesn’t just do what we want Him to, especially when it seems like something He would want, too.

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul steps in to talk to the Corinthians, who are bickering amongst themselves. They worship God but are claiming which pastor they follow as the best, and how that makes them better. Paul tells them to knock it off. “So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:7-9 NASB).

As Christians, we all work together to encourage and foster spiritual growth in other’s lives, but it is God who is the source of the growth in someone’s life. We would like to play God in other people’s lives, planning out our version of their best lives, but it is wrong. All of us can think of examples of where someone tried to do that, and it didn’t work. Why do we think we would be any better? Instead, we have to trust in God, and His timing, His methods, and His will for this person to come to know Him personally. We serve God as He calls us, and we wait on Him to change their lives.

So if you are waiting on that harvest, continue to serve. In faith, wait on God for the results. He is never wrong in His timing.

Juliana Gordon is a pastor’s wife in Southern California. She served as an office manager in a warm and loving church for over 20 years. Her passions include writing, praying for her family, and advocating for persecuted Christians. You can find her at julianagordon.com or on Instagram at @julianagordonwriter.