Wait It Out. Don’t Weed It Out.

By Greg Sanders

Matthew 13:28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest…..

What do you do when you feel like you are surrounded by things that are trying to steal your joy, steal your purpose, and choke out your faith? Jesus said wait it out, don’t weed it out. Notice in the text that the servants wanted to deal with the weeds immediately. “Let us go pull them out”…but the farmer said…Don’t pull them out. Give them time. God can do amazing things when we give Him time. Many of us guys like to be Mr. Fix-It. When we encounter a problem that needs to be fixed we use it as an excuse to go buy a new tool and jump right in. There is a hidden “ Tim the Tool Man” in most of us, but some of you like me, in your hurry to fix things, only make it worse. Our efforts alone cannot produce the plan of God. Jesus gives us some instruction on how to deal with the world around us.

Jesus said to wait out the weeds around you.

Wait for what? Wait for God to deal with them. Wait for you and others to minister to them. Wait for your lifestyle to witness to them. Wait for them to reveal themselves. 2 Peter 3:9 gives us the heart behind Jesus telling us to wait out the weeds. Peter says “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

People panic wondering long can the King wait before He returns because they see all these weeds. God knows that beneath the weeds around us are planted some seeds that are going to produce a last day harvest. We have to wait it out and let God bring forth His fruit. I have discovered that I can outlast and out pray a lot more problems than I can weed out.

Don’t spend all your time feeling overwhelmed by the weeds. Remember that God has planted good seed and nothing is going to keep His Kingdom from coming and bringing a harvest. Don’t spend your life trying to weed out the bad seed. Spend your life investing in and embracing the good seed. The abundance of weeds in your life cannot prevent God producing His harvest. Focus on planting good seeds despite the weeds around you.

Today’s Challenge: Focus on honoring God despite the things going on around you. Give God time to bring His harvest to your life.

Blessings,

Greg

P.S.

To hear this message in its entirety go to the sermons page at www.camdenfirstassembly.org and click on the message “Sabotaged.”