The poster read, “Lord, please give me patience; and give it to me NOW!” How like us all! And the same trait seems all the more tempting as we begin to learn of our privileges as people of the kingdom. Since our Lord has commissioned us to “Go and bring forth fruit,” it is understandable that as we pray, or as we do kingdom business, that we would prefer quick or immediate action.
But Jesus is reminding us of how “kingdom growth” occurs. As surely as it is true that the words we speak in prayer are heard, and as surely as the promises of God we claim are seed, so just as certainly it takes time for those promises sown in prayer to come to fruition.
The parallel is beautiful: we sow as God’s Word is laid hold of in faith; we water with prayer and praise; His love and grace provide the sunshine—and the fruitfulness of harvest will come! But remember the process: first, the small, grassy blade of mere beginnings; second, the growing evidence of coming fruit; and finally, the fulfilled promise in its completeness.
