God’s seasons are necessary at the natural and the spiritual level. The different seasons prepare the way for good harvest to come forth at the right time. If we have done things God’s way, sooner or later there will be a harvest of righteousness waiting for us.
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion ovecr the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28
The Lord designed us with a desire to build, multiply, and increase. God gave the mandate to Adam and Eve to multiply and subdue the earth. This increase and multiplication covered every area of life, and it included both our natural and spiritual lives. For example, we seek to grow and develop our relationship with the Lord. We also want to develop healthy and loving relationships with others. We desire to have a healthy marriage and raise Godly and responsible children. We aim to prosper financially and hope our hard work will pay off, so we can save for our retirement, give generously, and enjoy what the Lord has blessed us with. We also want to be fruitful in ministry in reaching others for Jesus and helping the believers to get stronger in their walk with God.
All these areas demand hard work and long seasons of faithfulness. They require us to be in tune with the Lord about those things that no longer serve a good purpose and allow them to be cut off in the fall and winter seasons. We also need to pay close attention to His word and grow our roots deep in Him, so we can flourish in the seasons to come. Eventually, when the season for plowing and planting comes, we are called to do them with diligence and seek His wisdom in every area of our lives.
Do we know how the harvest will look like? Not really. There is no defined harvest that we all can expect. The harvest will look different for all of us, and it will not necessarily be what we imagined it to be. In addition, it will show up on God’s timetable not ours! What we know is that God provides a harvest of righteousness for those who follow Him (See 2 Corinthians 9:10 NIV).
One of the areas that the harvest is not clear is raising children to adulthood. I will share on that subject in the next devotional.