Reaping in Due Season
“Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
Sowing will bring a harvest. No matter what we choose to do with our lives, there are always consequences. Paul makes certain we understand this when he says in verse 7, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Then he gives the two choices in verse 8: “He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
Now, in verse 9, Paul has a caution, a warning for those who are doing it right, who are living and walking by the Spirit of God. He tells us to not lose heart in doing good. It shouldn’t surprise any of us that the flesh lurks around us at all times. When we’re doing wrong it’s got us in its grip. But when we’re doing well, it’s there to get us off track. It’s always there. We have to be conscious of it.
There’s a trap to watch out for when we’re serving the Lord. The trap is that the flesh wants to see the result of what is being done. The world’s way is to measure everything: if it’s not big then it’s not right. This is a trap. Paul’s warning to us is, “let us not be weary.” He continues and explains, “For in due season we shall reap.” Every harvest comes when it’s ready. A farmer can’t predict that all the time. It’s going to be ready when God says it’s ready. We must remember that we don’t reap overnight. That’s part of the law of the harvest.
If it’s not happening quickly enough, or if it’s not happening big enough, we have the tendency to go back to doing it our way. Only God knows the end, and only He knows the time, and only He knows what He’s doing. So therefore we serve Him and we simply trust Him, even when there are no visible results. We just continue to trust Him, because we know that if we’re sowing in the right field, at some point the harvest is going to come.
My dear friend Dorie Van Stone worked with the Dani tribe in Irian Jaya for eight years. Her children got so sick she had to come off of the mission field. She never saw a convert; no one came to know Christ. Years later, Dorie received a letter from the chief of the Dani tribe. It said, “Dorie, there are over 250,000 believers now in the Dani tribe. They have become the leading evangelists in all of this area of the world.” Dorie just stood there with tears streaming down her face and said, “I just thought it would never happen.”
Paul says don’t lose heart, don’t grow weary, because you will reap in due season. Don’t back off. Trust God. Sow the good seed of the Gospel. If you don’t see a result, that’s fine. You’ll experience the joy of Jesus just knowing Him. But the harvest will come. Keep sowing!
—Dr. Wayne Barber, condensed