Your Future Grows from What You Plant Today

“Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow—perhaps it all will.” Ecclesiastes 11:6 (CEV)

Everything in my life starts as a seed. There are many kinds of seeds—beautiful seeds like kindness, love, faith, and integrity. And then there are uglier seeds, like gossip and greed. But there are two things all seeds have in common. First, all seeds need time to grow. And second, I harvest whatever I have sown.

Think about literal, physical seeds. When I plant a seed in the ground, there is always a waiting time between planting and harvesting. I sow in one season, and I reap in another season. I don’t plant tomato seeds and pick a tomato an hour later. I have to wait.

It’s the same way in life. Maybe I’ve planted seeds of kindness in a relationship. I don’t necessarily reap kindness immediately. I have to plant the seeds, trust God to grow them, and then wait.

Ecclesiastes says, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. . . . A time to plant and a time to harvest . . . A time to scatter . . . and a time to gather” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 5 NLT).

Once the seeds have grown and I'm ready to harvest, I can trust that I will gather what I have sown.

If I plant seeds of gossip, the people in my life will likely gossip about me too. But if I plant seeds of kindness, people will be kind to me in return. If I plant seeds of faith, I will experience faithfulness.

So what do I do while I'm waiting on God—after I’ve planted seeds and are waiting on them to be ready to harvest? I keep sowing the kind of seeds I want to reap.

The Living Bible paraphrase says, “Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow—perhaps it all will” (Ecclesiastes 11:6).

Am I waiting a long time for the harvest in my life? If so, here is a verse for encouragement. In Habakkuk 2, God says, “At the time I have decided, my words will come true.  You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting— it will happen!” (Habakkuk 2:3 CEV).

The harvest may be slow in coming, but God says that, at the right time, it will. Keep waiting, trusting God, and sowing good seeds in my life. God will grow my seeds, and one day I will reap a harvest. 

In summary: 

Everything in life begins as a seed—whether good ones like kindness, faith, and integrity, or destructive ones like gossip and greed—and each seed takes time to grow before it can be harvested. Just as in farming, sowing and reaping happen in different seasons, so in life we must patiently wait for the results of what we’ve planted, trusting God to bring growth in His timing. What we sow, we will eventually reap: kindness produces kindness, gossip produces gossip, and faith produces faithfulness. While waiting for the harvest, the key is to keep sowing good seeds, knowing that God promises the harvest will come at the appointed time.

Bottom Line:

Keep planting good seeds through your actions and attitudes, trust God with the timing, and stay patient—because in the right season, you will reap a harvest.

So I need to start consistently “sowing” seeds of value into those that God brings around me.

Ready, Set—Wait

In Lamentations 3:25-26 it says, “The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him, so it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us.” (GNT)

When life seems to be falling apart, the best and most “spiritual” response will surprise us: Get alone with God, and wait.

The Bible tells us in Lamentations 3:28, “When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The ‘worst’ is never the worst” (MSG).

We don’t know how to “enter the silence.” We’re always anxious. We don’t like to wait on God because it stresses us out. We like to be in control.

What does it mean to wait on God? I sit down, close my mouth, and just listen. I may read my Bible. I may pray. But most of all, I’m quiet in front of God.

Anxiety comes when I’m not “waiting for hope to appear,” as Jeremiah tells us. God wants to talk to me. He wants to give me the hope I crave. But I’m way too busy to hear him.

If we want to listen to God and experience the hope he has for me, then I have to get alone with him. We must “enter the silence” and be ready to hear him.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, “Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace” (MSG).

Get honest with God, and my focus will shift from just seeing my problems—no matter how overwhelming they seem—to God’s grace.

Lamentations 3:25-26 says, “The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him, so it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us” (GNT). 

Before I go out and try to solve my problem on my own, let God save me. No matter what obstacle I’m facing, I’ve got to wait for his timing. He’ll time my next move perfectly.

Get still, and listen. Then, wait for hope to appear. 

How to Trust God in the Delays

In James 5:7-8 it says, “Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes again. See how farmers wait for their precious crops to grow. They wait patiently for fall and spring rains. You, too, must be patient. Don’t give up hope. The Lord will soon be here.” (GW)

Whatever problems I’m facing, I need to remember that God is working behind the scenes. I need to trust him and be patient.

But how do I do that? What do I do while I’m waiting? How do I build a faith that trusts God during the delays?

The Bible says, “Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes again. See how farmers wait for their precious crops to grow. They wait patiently for fall and spring rains. You, too, must be patient. Don’t give up hope. The Lord will soon be here” (James 5:7-8 GW).

Like a farmer, I need to wait expectantly. While farmers wait, they prepare for the harvest. They get ready. They don’t sit around thinking, “I wonder if this is going to grow or not.” They expect their crops to grow. They prepare for the harvest so that when it comes, they can reap the benefits.

So, I need to expect God to act and provide. Psalm 130:5 says, “I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised” (TLB). That promise is all over the Bible, in verses like Isaiah 49:23: “No one who waits for my help will be disappointed” (GNT).

I need to consider what I’ve been waiting for God to do. Whatever I’m waiting on God to do in my life, am I really expecting him to do it? If I’m not preparing myself while I wait, I’m not really expecting anything to happen.

Quite often when we think we’re waiting on God, God is actually waiting on us. I may not be ready to handle the blessing he wants to give me, and so he’s waiting on me to spiritually mature.

One thing that will help me wait patiently on God is to remember his goodness and grace. He is working in my life, even when I can’t see what he’s doing and even if I think his timing is too slow.

I need to get still, spend time in God’s Word, and learn how to be more like Jesus. Then get busy doing the work that will prepare me for the harvest.

In summary, be patient until the Lord returns. Farmers wait patiently for fall and spring rains. I, too, must have the same patience. I should not give up hope. A farmer cannot hurry the process. But while he waits, he is not idle, as there is much to do to ensure a good harvest. I too must wait patiently. And while I wait, there is much work that I can do to advance God's Kingdom. God is always working behind the scenes. Continue to trust him, and to be patient. I do this by learning to wait expectantly. Just like a farmer who expects it to grow. He prepares for the harvest so that when it comes, he can reap the benefits. I too need to wait expectantly as I trust God to act and provide. Whatever I’ve been waiting on God to do, do I really expect him to do it? If I’m not preparing myself while I’m waiting, I’m not really expecting anything to happen. A lot of times the tendency is to wait on God, however God’s just waiting on me. He may be saying, “you're not ready to handle the blessing I want to give you. I want you to grow up first. He’s waiting on me.” So I continue to get into God’s Word, and learn how to be more like him. Then, get busy doing the work that will prepare me for the harvest.