By: Rex Stump
Wauseon, Ohio
In Ecclesiastes 11:4-6, Solomon tells us, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.”
“Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.”
As I read these verses, I’m encouraged and reminded that God’s ways are beyond my ways, and His thoughts are beyond my thoughts and understanding.
He is God, I’m just a mere mortal. I’m the clay, He is the potter. I’m His creation, created to do good things, which He prepared in advance. (Isaiah 55:8; Isaiah 29:16; Ephesians 2:10)
But what if I question God and His ways? What if I neglect doing good things for God, or delay in being obedient to His direction? In my finite mind, I may justify my delay or hesitation in serving God, because I’m waiting for the right moment.
How many of us wait for the right conditions to serve? Read the Bible? Share our faith? Do we wait to attend church, until we find that perfect church? Are we waiting for the perfect moment to join a small group Bible study, or participate on a mission trip?
“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” Waiting for perfect conditions can lead to inactivity and lack of productivity!
“Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon!” When I read those words of Solomon, I’m reminded of my coaches and their expectations for me to “not stand around” at practice. I’m reminded of my childhood and my parent’s expectations for us to get the work done on the farm.
There is a time to work and a time to rest but never allow inactivity to be an excuse from doing what God has asked you to do.
If God has equipped and empowered us with His Holy Spirit, what are we waiting for? Sometimes it’s hard to know the direction that God is leading us. But this I know, if God has put me on the right path, I need to keep moving!
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Rex Stump is the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a Pastor at True North Church in Wauseon, Ohio.