Gaylord Diaz's Blog

One of the hardest things to do in life is wait, especially when you want–no, strike that, when you need–something now. When the deadline’s come, when you’re hurting really bad, when you can’t possibly endure a moment longer, when the next step can only end in certain death; we all need answers now. We need miracles today.

I’d like to share with you a verse of Scripture that’s been of immense comfort and encouragement to me. It’s taken the grumbling and doubting out of all my waits. It’s given me the assurance that, come what may, no matter how long it takes, God will keep His Word. He will come through for me. Here’s the verse.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

1. In order to reap we must first sow.  Galatians 6:7 exhorts us, Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

• Planting comes before harvest.
• You work before you get the paycheck.

In the spiritual realm,

•  Praying comes before answered prayer. Matthew 7:7, Ask, and it shall be given you.
• Praying in accordance with God’s will comes before answered prayer. 1 John 5:14-15,  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  (15)  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
• Believing comes before answered prayer. Matthew 21:22, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
• Obedience comes before answered prayer. I John 3:22, And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

Answered prayer requires praying in accordance with God’s will, believing, and obeying. You can’t expect an answer to prayer if you haven’t prayed, believed, or obeyed God.

So many want to reap without sowing. They want answers to prayer, healings, provisions, blessings, and a whole lot more; without having to believe or obey God. Brethren, it doesn’t work this way! If you want a healing or an answer to prayer, you’ve first got to believe and obey before you ask.

2. Because we have sown, we then have God’s promise and assurance that we shall reap.  In due season we shall reap.

There is an air of finality or certainty about this word shall. It leaves you with no room for doubt or question about what will happen after we’ve sown, prayed, believed, and obeyed: we shall reap! It’s not maybe, or perhaps, or might, or probably. God said, Shall reap.

Are you going to get your answer to prayer? Are you going to be healed? Is the money going to come? Is the loved one going to get saved? On the authority of God’s Word, the answer is Yes!

• You shall receive. Matthew 21:22, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
• You shall be healed. The prayer of faith shall heal the sick and the Lord shall raise him up, James 5:15.
• Shall be heard and shall be helped.  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him, (16) With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation, Psalm 91:15,16.

There are no doubts about it, no doubt about how it’s going to end, no doubt about what God’s going to do, no doubt about what’s going to happen to you.

How do you know you’re going to get it? How can you be confident you’re going to be manifestly healed when it isn’t manifested yet? How do you know something is going to happen when it hasn’t happened yet?

When you order something through the mail, on the internet, or on the phone, you believe you’re going to get what you ordered and paid for. You don’t even think about doubting! You know you’re going to get what you ordered. How can you be so sure you’re going to get it?

• You’ve met the conditions: you’ve placed the order and paid for the merchandise. It works the same way in the spiritual realm with answered prayer. You’re confident about receiving the answer because you’ve met the conditions. Confidence of answered prayer, brethren, comes by meeting the conditions for answered prayer. Look at 1 John 5:14-15 again, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  (15)  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
• You trust the mail-order company to fill your order and send it to you; you trust the postal delivery system to deliver it to your door. You see, you’re confident in the ability and integrity of both the mail-order company and the postal delivery system to do their part and send you your order.

Now there are all kinds of questions you could raise: Is the company reliable? Are they going to gyp me? Did UPS deliver it to the wrong house? Yes, there are all kinds of questions you could ask, all kinds of doubts you could raise. But you don’t ask the questions and you don’t raise the doubts. Why? Because you believe the company’s honest and so is the post office: they’re going to get the product to you.

Can you believe God the same way? It would be mighty embarrassing for you to have faith and confidence in men that can lie and steal, but not have faith and confidence in a God who can’t lie and steal.

3. There is a time for answered prayer.  In due season we shall reap. What does due season mean? The word in the Greek means, the proper time, the right time, the appointed or ordained time. God, my friends, has an appointed time to answer prayer. When that appointed time comes, when it’s the right time, He gives you what you’ve asked of Him.

• Sometimes you know the exact time something is going to happen. For example, you know that every Friday at noon you’ll get your paycheck. You know exactly when you’re going to get it.
•  Sometimes you know the approximate time when something is going to happen, even though you don’t know exactly when. For example, a mother knows she’ll give birth to a baby nine months from now, but she doesn’t know exactly what day that will be.
• Sometimes, however, you don’t know the exact or approximate time something is going to happen. In school it’s called a pop quiz. In industry it’s called a surprise inspection. In war, it’s called a surprise attack.

Look at Mark 11:24, Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Note that the Lord tells you you’ll get the answer to your prayer, but He doesn’t tell you when! Even though He doesn’t tell you when, He nevertheless guarantees you that the time will come when you will get it.

Brethren, you’ve got to leave the time in God’s hands. Don’t be disheartened or doubtful that you’ll never get what you asked God for. Be encouraged. We shall reap! That’s God’s promise to you and He won’t break it!

4. In order to reap there’s one final condition we must meet, one more thing we must do, and that is persevere or hold fast.  For in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  Now the word faint simply means to get weary or tired; exhausted. It means giving up or quitting.

Quitting is easy, but you seldom, if ever, get anything good out of quitting.

• You don’t win the race if you quit running.
• You don’t enjoy the new house if you quit building.
• You don’t get the veggies from the garden if you quit planting, tilling, and watering.

My friends, you don’t reap if you quit doing what’s good.

Receiving requires endurance.  Hebrews 6:11,12,15. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:  (12)  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Skip down to verse 15, And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

What does endurance mean? It means

• to wait patiently on God.
• to continue doing good.
• to continue believing and confessing even when things don’t look good.
• to not grow weary or doubtful.
• to not give up when you’re tempted to give in and quit.
• to continue serving God when you’re tempted to turn your back on Him.

Brethren, I know it’s hard to wait. I know the doubts and frustrations and fears that you battle. It seems so unfair, unreasonable, and hard. You don’t understand why God’s taking so long. I don’t understand either. But God is God and He can do no wrong.

We all want answers now. We want to be healed now. We want to feel good now. We want our needs met now.

But if it hasn’t happened yet, then now is not the right time for these things to happen; now is not God’s due season. God’s promise is, we shall reap in due season. If now was the right time, we would have the answer now. But we don’t have the answer now. Why?

• It’s not because God has changed His mind.
• It’s not because God can’t do what we’re asked Him to do.
• It’s not because God doesn’t love us and He doesn’t want to answer our prayer.
• It’s because now is not the due season or appointed time. Now is not the right time.

Rest assured, brethren, that there is a right time. And with each passing hour and day, that right time is coming. We’re getting closer and closer. And when that time finally comes, we shall have it. We shall receive. We shall reap.

So continue waiting, believing, and doing good. It’s just about harvest time!