The Unseen Growth of Faith: Patience in God's Timing
Mark 4:26-27 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
“He knoweth not how.” Have you ever wondered to yourself, “How DOES God do that?” Amazing, isn’t it? How that God would require our faith by which to initiate His work, and how that the work (like a seed) matures from start to finish when it is birthed in faith, as if it had a life of its own. God never ceases to amaze me! That said, I am again reminded today of what life is truly like as we serve God in His Kingdom. We often expect immediate and spectacular results as we serve God, and much like the man in our text who, though he gets some sleep, still rises night and day in an antsy, impatient kind of way, awaiting a harvest for which his worrying hastens not at all!
If there’s one thing I have learned while serving God, it is this: You can’t rush Him. I will admit that I have a tendency to get really fidgety when I’m anticipating something exciting. For example, I had my perfect evening all planned out, back in the day when I was planning on asking my girlfriend (now wife) to marry me. I had already purchased the ring, and had an event on the 4th of July in 1998 that I was planning to bring her with me on, and I was going to “pop the question” underneath the fireworks show. BUT, because of my uncontrollable desire for immediate gratification, I just simply couldn’t wait that long…it was DAYS away!! We laugh now, but because of my stubborn tendency to resist delayed gratification, I asked her to marry me, in not so romantic an atmosphere, behind a commercial building…in front of a jail house…after work.
Now don’t get me wrong, fireworks were still going off in my heart when she said yes, but a few days later when we actually went to see the real fireworks show, I couldn’t help but wonder how much more meaningful and romantic the event would have been had I waited just a few days later. I’m glad that our marriage was not scarred, and that we are happily married, but I hope you get my point…some things will be better waiting for than forcing in the moment. So goes the Kingdom of God. Don’t try and force what can only happen over a process of time, as God knits it all together. Your fidgeting isn’t hurrying the process, only frustrating your soul. Wait on the Lord, and be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart! And, rest assured that, as I heard one preacher put it, your seed is right on schedule.
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
“He knoweth not how.” Have you ever wondered to yourself, “How DOES God do that?” Amazing, isn’t it? How that God would require our faith by which to initiate His work, and how that the work (like a seed) matures from start to finish when it is birthed in faith, as if it had a life of its own. God never ceases to amaze me! That said, I am again reminded today of what life is truly like as we serve God in His Kingdom. We often expect immediate and spectacular results as we serve God, and much like the man in our text who, though he gets some sleep, still rises night and day in an antsy, impatient kind of way, awaiting a harvest for which his worrying hastens not at all!
If there’s one thing I have learned while serving God, it is this: You can’t rush Him. I will admit that I have a tendency to get really fidgety when I’m anticipating something exciting. For example, I had my perfect evening all planned out, back in the day when I was planning on asking my girlfriend (now wife) to marry me. I had already purchased the ring, and had an event on the 4th of July in 1998 that I was planning to bring her with me on, and I was going to “pop the question” underneath the fireworks show. BUT, because of my uncontrollable desire for immediate gratification, I just simply couldn’t wait that long…it was DAYS away!! We laugh now, but because of my stubborn tendency to resist delayed gratification, I asked her to marry me, in not so romantic an atmosphere, behind a commercial building…in front of a jail house…after work.
Now don’t get me wrong, fireworks were still going off in my heart when she said yes, but a few days later when we actually went to see the real fireworks show, I couldn’t help but wonder how much more meaningful and romantic the event would have been had I waited just a few days later. I’m glad that our marriage was not scarred, and that we are happily married, but I hope you get my point…some things will be better waiting for than forcing in the moment. So goes the Kingdom of God. Don’t try and force what can only happen over a process of time, as God knits it all together. Your fidgeting isn’t hurrying the process, only frustrating your soul. Wait on the Lord, and be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart! And, rest assured that, as I heard one preacher put it, your seed is right on schedule.
~ Pastor Gary Caudill