In Due Season...

By Gobel Brockman


Imagine this: A farmer goes out in early spring to plant his crops. Then, after two or three weeks, you see him out again, trying to bring in the harvest, even though nothing has grown yet. Silly, eh? Yet sadly, we do it all the time. We pray, then think God's abandoned us if He doesn't answer in 24 hours or less.

I understand impatience. I'm as guilty as anyone. I don't like waiting. If I go into a restaurant and there's a long waiting list, I'm usually ready to turn around and just hit a burger joint, even though the food won't be as good. I call it 'The Microwave Mentality'. You can throw something in a microwave, and in two minutes it's ready to eat. I sometimes try to treat God like that. Only problem - it doesn't work. We had a guest speaker in our church recently who said this: "One thing I've learned about God - He's SLOW..."

There are times we must remind ourselves that God has a different agenda than we do. He knows every little detail about our future, while we usually don't even know what we're having for supper. The Bible says '...his ways are higher than ours; His thoughts are higher than ours...' Sometimes I think we need to ask ourselves, "Do I really believe that?"

Remember these words found in Galatians 6: "Do not be weary in well doing, for in DUE SEASON you shall reap, if you faint not." (Emphasis mine). I'm in a place of waiting right now. If you are as well, let me encourage you with this: Put up the tractors, the harvest isn't ready yet. God knows what He's doing, and when it IS ready, it'll be worth the wait. I just hope there's not a waiting list the next time I go out to eat....