We live in a world full of quick fixes & immediate satisfaction-we’re told: “anything you want; you deserve to have.” We want to see the beautiful end product, the happy ending, the conclusion & the destination. But the fact is that God created life to be a process: a journey.
While thinking about the sometime seemingly slow process of life; the word “cultivate” has come up frequently in this new year and it’s been a reminder to trust that no test, trial, or season is ever wasted. So I looked up the meaning of the word cultivate…
- to foster the growth of
- to grow/care for
- to raise/assist
“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” -Psalm 37:3 [NASB]
What a beautiful picture of what Jesus is doing in our lives. Just as a farmer is patient, intentional, diligent & hard-working in cultivating his fragile and vulnerable crops; Jesus is doing the same in our hearts. The farmer knows what he is doing—he has a goal & purpose in mind and also has the tools, knowledge, and resources needed to fulfill those plans.
“For we are God’s fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God’s cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God’s building.” – 1 Cor. 3:9 [AMP]
A farmer knows where he will plant, what seeds he will place there and why, he waters, weeds, persistently protects, nourishes and patiently waits. He gently cares and does everything in his power to make his crops fruitful—even if that means pruning and doing what temporarily hurts.
“For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you [in favor], and you shall be cultivated and sown.” Ezekiel 36:9
The growing process is hard, long, & anything but glamorous…but what it produces in you is more than your heart could ever imagine. As you trust the One who sees the end from the beginning He grows and strengthens your faith in Him. Trust Him when He plants seeds and pulls weeds. Trust Him when He prunes and waters. Trust Him when He picks and replants. What He has purposed He will accomplish; He will always complete what He has started. His word will not return to Him void.
It is a process and in our own strength we are helpless to wait because everything in our human mind and reasoning wants to take control. Long-suffering is something that only the Spirit of God can produce in us.
“Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in.” Gal. 6:9
Don’t deceive yourself to believe that this fast paced, never stopping, comfortable life portrayed and idolized by society is how it was meant to be…that we’re living the dream when we’re living for ourselves: chasing our own passions, pursuits and ambitions. I pray we would desperately long to love God’s desires more than our own & that we would follow after His heart and run from of our own. How much the enemy of our souls would love for us to believe that we’re pursuing what really matters as we chase after what the world values: only to come to the end of our lives and find that the rat-race lead to destruction.
“If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits his very self?” – Luke 9:23-25
I want to spend my life chasing what matters.
Trust that He is sovereign, constant, faithful & trustworthy. He is working, cultivating, strengthening, and growing—in the small, simple, routine things that go unappreciated and unseen He sees and He cares. Every chore, kind word, prayer, hurt, & tear: He knows. There are many ordinary tasks in a day; but not one of them is without purpose when done in worship, to glorify Jesus. God is always using the mundane in our lives to accomplish something greater in us. He is bringing it all together to work the extraordinary. One day you’ll look back and see that when you thought He’d forgotten He was there; holding you thru it all.
Don’t lose sight of today’s purpose: remember that He is cultivating you.
“In the soil, I now surrender
You are breaking new ground
So I yield to You and to Your careful hand
When I trust You I don’t need to understand”
– “New Wine” by Hillsong
