Many times when I want to learn more about how God operates and how He works, I look to nature. There are many examples of how nature reflects the nature of God, one of those being a crop harvest.
Have you ever tasted certain fruit or vegetables before they are ripe and ready? Normally they have a bitter, if not extremely unpleasant taste. Don’t get me wrong, I know people who like certain foods before they are ripe, such as many people in the southern United States and “fried green tomatoes”. However even the flavor these have cannot be compared to that which they have when they are fully ripe, not to mention the full extant of the nutritional value they possess after they have been properly nourished.
You see if you take the fruit from its source too quickly, it is not properly nourished because the source is the place where everything it needs comes from. The same can be said about almost every aspect of life, but I think it is particularly applicable to Christians.
If you remember Moses, he was 80 years old before He came back to Egypt to lead the Hebrews away to Canaan. “But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel… When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.” (Acts 7 23,30).
Many of us want God to initiate us NOW and use us NOW, but sometimes the now is best used for nourishment and preparation. Moses was 40 when he killed the Egyptian taskmaster and fled to Midian. He was in Midian for 40 years before he encountered the burning bush. That means he was at LEAST 80 years old when he returned to pharaoh with Aaron. I am convinced that God, being as strategic and Intentional as He is, didn’t just let Moses wander around the desert in Midian for 40 years and not teach him anything. Moses may not have realized it was God teaching him, but it was God indeed. What was Moses’ job while in Midian? A shepherd. What did he do for the children of Israel? He shepherded them.
If you attempt to step into the destiny and purpose you are called for before the time it and you are ready, it will be bitter and you will not see the fullness of what God has planned. Even though it seems like your walk is becoming stagnant or plateauing, you never know what kind of breakthrough God has in store for you. Stay with the source, stay in God’s presence and rest in Him until He releases you to that task, for there is another example of how nature reflects God’s nature.
On my grandparents land, there was a pear tree. We loved eating them because the fruit was sweet nourishing. But we always knew the best fruit were the ones who had just very recently detached from the stems and fallen from the tree or were very easy to pick. These pears had the proper amount of time and feeding to be able to become pear trees themselves one day. Remember that God is always intentional and though it may seem like you are going nowhere, He is actually implanting you with a knowledge you desperately need for the rest of your journey.
Be blessed.
Beacon Fire Ministries 