While You’re Waiting, God Is Working

[While You’re Waiting, God Is Working]( Current Teaching Series [Financial Fitness]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [While You’re Waiting, God Is Working]( By Rick Warren — 07/11/2022 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd like to share a Daily Devotional from Pastor Rick with you&body= “Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NLT) The Bible tells us that there are seasons in life. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (NIV). The fact that life is made up of seasons means that life also includes times of waiting. Between the “then” and the “now”—or the “now” and the “what’s coming next”—there is always a delay. This irritates most people. It can be frustrating to make a deposit, investment, or plan and not have it instantly come to fruition. But fruit ripens slowly. Would you rather eat a vine-ripened tomato or one that has been picked green and then gassed to turn it red? There’s no comparison between a vine-ripened tomato, which was allowed to grow slowly, and a tomato that was picked prematurely. If you pick too soon, you miss the flavor. In money management, you always reap in a different season than you sow. And, by the way, not all fruit ripens at the same time. When you grow peaches, they’re not all ripe at once. They come in little by little; you pick a few a day. When you start planting and following God’s money management principles, you’re not going to get a windfall tomorrow. It’s going to come in over time. You’re going to have to wait to reap in a different season. But while you’re waiting, God is working. When you’re waiting for the fulfillment of the efforts or money or energy that you’ve put into something, you may think nothing’s happening. But, oh, it’s happening! While that seed is hidden in the ground, it is slowly germinating. And when that seed bursts with God’s blessing on it, it will continue growing and growing. One day a little shoot will stick up out of the ground, and then you will see that it’s working. But until then, you need to trust that God is working—even when you can’t see the fruit of your labor. Plants take time to grow. There’s no such thing as instant maturity. No farmer goes out, plants the seed in the ground, comes back an hour later, digs it up, and expects it to have grown. You’ve just got to let it be, and let God grow it in his time. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (NLT). [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - What have you been waiting on God to bring to fruition in your life? - How have you grown spiritually as a result of having to wait for that harvest? What has God taught you as you’ve been waiting on him? - Why do you think God makes you wait to reap what you sow? The post [While You’re Waiting, God Is Working]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd like to share a Daily Devotional from Pastor Rick with you&body= [Get the Financial Fitness Study Kit when you give a gift to support Daily Hope!]( To help you stay financially fit in turbulent times like these, Pastor Rick created a special study called Financial Fitness that looks at the biblical principles surrounding money management. In this 5-part DVD and workbook Bible study, Rick provides straightforward answers to questions like . . . • How do I develop healthier financial habits? • Where’s the best place to invest my money? • What does the Bible say about giving? • How can I learn to be satisfied with what I already have? As you discover and apply the principles found in God’s Word to your finances, you’ll experience the peace that comes from true financial freedom. [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 5 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series Financial Fitness. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: The Foundation of Financial Health Message 2: The Law of Contentment Message 3: The Law of Sowing and Reaping Message 4: Habits of Financial Health Message 5: Where Best to Invest [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. Rick also founded [The PEACE Plan]( to address five global issues—spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy—through the power of ordinary people in the local church. You can listen to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, his daily 25-minute audio teaching, and sign up for his free daily devotionals at [PastorRick.com](. © 2022 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe by clicking the link below. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, 23182 Arroyo Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, United States