“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
Over the past several months, my wife and I have been spending weekends with my Father-in-Law to help out around his house. My Father-in-Law grew up on a farm and spent the early years of his life, with his many brothers and sisters, tending to the family farm. In his adult life, he worked to maintain his farming heritage by maintaining gardens of vegetables and fruits such as strawberries and blueberries. At this season of his life, he can’t do the physical labor he once could handle with ease. Instead, he must rely on my wife and me to handle the chores that need to be done.
During our weekends helping out, I have received some first-hand knowledge of all that he has planted on his acreage. I have learned about the different seasons of the blueberries, strawberries, and muscadines. In fact, I learned how my Father-in-Law planted these particular fruits in a way that when one fruit is out of season, another fruit becomes in season. In the early part of summer, I can enjoy blueberries. Later in the summer, I have the pleasure of fresh strawberries and then, still later, juicy muscadines. Each fruit becomes ripe and juicy during its own season at just the perfect time—-not too early and not too late. Pick them too early and they are sour and firm. Pick them too late and they are mushy and discolored.
As Christians, each of us is blessed with certain God-given gifts and talents. These gifts and talents bloom and grow in their due season. It’s easy sometimes to get discouraged when things in our lives are not going as we think they should. We wish we were better at this skill or that talent and we wish we mastered those skills and talents sooner rather than later. We often get discouraged when various stages of our life are not living up to what we think they should.
If you are going through one of those seasons in your own life, don’t despair. Have faith that your God-given fruit will ripen just at the perfect time, based on God’s perfect timing for your life. Instead of being discouraged about what isn’t; get encouraged for what is to be. I promise, you’ll be glad you waited.
