“Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.’”- John 4:35
So many nowadays are devoted to eating and drinking healthily, overly concerned with what they put into their bodies. Yet, what really matters for eternity is what we’re spiritually planting into our hearts and minds, along with what we’re planting and watering in others, including our spouse, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and through social media.
With healthy input, people are hoping for the harvest of a long life. With spiritual planting is the hope for a spiritual harvest. Yet, like preparing healthy, nutritious food, giving, doing, spending time, effort, sweat, and going out of our way to help and invest spiritually in ourselves and others, reaping a harvest takes time. Planting spiritual seeds includes studying God’s word and sharing His gift of Salvation. Watering comes through prayer, fasting, teaching godly principles, encouraging words, and living godly practices with others.
The Twists-and-Turns of Planting Spiritual Seeds
Sowing spiritually into people, including ourselves, can be an emotional roller coaster, with breathtaking highs and gut-wrenching lows, both of which can take huge tolls on us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Yet, despite the ups and downs, terrifying twists and turns, and out-of-control feelings, we have hope, as Psalm 126:5 describes, “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.” Both exciting and draining at times, it’s easy to go from being so hopeful to the depths of despair, feeling discouraged, and worn down, like we want to give up and don’t ever want to spiritually plant or water seeds in others or ourselves ever again, feeling at times like we wish we hadn’t ever started or even tried.
Still, we can look to God, asking Him to encourage and strengthen us, with the faith that what we sow for Him will take root and grow, even if for days, weeks, months, years, or even decades, we don’t see the spiritual harvest we were hoping and praying for.
Spiritual Growth Takes Time
As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:7, “So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” He had a good grasp of how planting and growing in others, as well as ourselves, takes time, and that the outcome isn’t really up to us, because we are co-workers with God, but He is the one who causes our seeds to blossom, bloom, and bear fruit. As 1 Corinthians 3:9 describes, “For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
Investing spiritually in ourselves and others can seem painfully slow before we even start seeing growth, to see the things we’ve planted and watered begin to sprout and grow, much less a harvest. Jesus describes the slow process in Mark 4:28, “All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.” He explains how things are done in secret before they become publicly evident, and once they do, Jesus says in Mark 4:29, “As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
God’s Comfort and Hope During the Process
Watching and waiting for the growth and harvest of our spiritual planting of seeds can feel like it’s going on forever, with countless days of seeing no signs of growth or progress, second-guessing whether our efforts and time spent investing in ourselves and others will be fruitless.
Still, God gives us the comfort and assurance of spiritual fruits, including patience and long-suffering, to help us wait and endure during the quiet, inactive times. As Galatians 5:22 describes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” As well, He promises us joy that, no matter our situation, we can experience it because we know Him, as John 15:11 explains: “I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Paul, too, reminds and encourages us in Romans 12:12 to “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Let’s pray ...
Dear Father,
Help me to trust You in what You are accomplishing in secret through my planting and watering of spiritual seeds in my own life and the lives of others. Encourage my heart to be hopeful and confident that You are bringing about growth and a harvest.
In Jesus ’name,
Amen.
What truth from today’s devotional is God using to encourage your heart? Share your reflection and join our conversation in the iBelieve Truth Devotional Forum.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images /RyanJLane
Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.
Related Resource: How Faith Finds Us When Life Takes a Detour
Joining us this week is worship leader turned viral comedian Heather Land. After growing up in the shadow of her mother’s decades-long addiction, Heather reflects on how this painful season—alongside her unexpected shift from the worship stage to the world of comedy—taught her that while our paths may take unforeseen turns, our core calling to encourage and uplift others remains constant.
Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Rachel Kessler, an Episcopal priest and Kenyon College chaplain who completed her PhD in medieval studies at the University of Toronto before pivoting to seminary after hitting academic burnout, then built a following as the “Nerdy Priest” on TikTok after a student secretly downloaded the app on her phone.
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Originally published Thursday, 03 September 2026.
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