She looked so sad standing at our door.
“What’s the matter?” Kenya and I asked, wondering the reason for the crestfallen look.
“Squirrels,” she answered. “They ate my tomatoes and ruined them all.”
When we walked over to the garden she had been working so hard on, we saw multiple half-eaten tomatoes. They were a pulpy mess. Some had just gone missing altogether.
We felt sorry for her. We knew how much effort our neighbor had put into growing them.
I remember when she first tried her hand at backyard gardening. She excitedly told us all about her plans with a glimmer in her eye.
She was so giddy.
Soon after, we walked by and saw our friend dressed in overalls, a sunhat and gardening gloves, with a garden rake and a few other tools in hand.
She planted seeds and faithfully tended the ground.
When the tomato plants began budding, she was proud and happy, and could hardly wait until the homegrown crop was ripe for harvesting.
When the squirrels wrecked her hard work, she was understandably devastated to see her garden in ruins. But she picked herself up and tried again.
Our vigilant and diligent neighbor re-planted some tomatoes—only this time, she doubled the amount of seeds and put up a small gate to keep the squirrels out.
Although the persistent little furry mammals got a few of them, for the most part, the plants thrived. When they blossomed, there were so many tomatoes, she did not have enough room for them all!
She was ecstatic about the harvest, but, at the same time, overwhelmed.
The next time she came to our door, her face was gleeful and she had a big old bowl of organically grown tomatoes she wanted us to take.
Friend, you, like our neighbor, may have been waiting on a harvest, only to be left disappointed. When you expected to reap, you might have been met with ruin. It could have been the ruination of your finances, relationships, health, emotional stability, opportunities, or hope for a positive outcome.
When you anticipated increase, your testimony may be that you were met with loss after loss and setback after setback. All the sowing, working, tilling the ground, nurturing the soil, consistent praying, sacrificial fasting, and continuous believing, did not produce the harvest you had imagined.
But God is saying through this word, don’t give up hope. He has a good plan to make you fruitful in due time.
Though you may have lost some things and failed to reap anything good in past seasons, a new day is coming. Even if conditions are unfavorable, God will favor you, just as He did Isaac in Genesis 26.
The Bible says, the Lord told Isaac to go to Gerar, where the Philistines, his enemies, were located. The Lord promised to bless Him there.
In verse 12, we see that Isaac planted seeds in that land and the Lord increased him, giving him a hundredfold return.
Things looked pretty good at first, but they were about to take a turn for the worst.
Isaac was so prosperous, that his enemies became jealous of his harvest. The word of God says they envied his prosperity and power. To spite him, his hateful enemies threw dirt into all the wells his father’s servants had dug back in the days of Abraham, clogging them up.
Then, King Abimelech flat-out told Isaac to leave, because he was “too powerful” for them.
How awful! Isaac had worked hard, sowing seeds in that land, only to be met with opposition and thrown out.
Friend, whenever there’s a divine harvest with your name on it, expect the enemy to come after you full force. He will do whatever he can to disrupt God’s plan for your life, but he’s already defeated.
Isaac is proof. Despite the unfairness of the treatment he received, he went ahead and left, and went into the valley of Gerar. Once there, he didn’t let the attack on his harvest stop him.
The Bible says Isaac re-dug the wells that had been clogged up by the Philistines and renamed them, using the original names his father had given them.
Then, he hit a snag.
The first well of spring water that Isaac’s servants discovered caused more unwelcome controversy. The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds and claimed, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named the well Esek (Quarrel) because they quarreled over it.
Then, they dug another well. There was more strife and jealousy over that one too! So Isaac named it Sitnah, meaning opposition.
Nevertheless, Isaac didn’t quit. He dug yet another well.
The third time around, there was no fight or opposition. So Isaac named that well “Rehoboth,” which means broad places, about which he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Isaac went from fighting to flourishing. He moved from being kicked out to being enlarged.
God made room for him and gave him broad territory to reap an even greater harvest. That attack was just a setup for increase.
Today, if you’re facing an attack on your harvest and are being met with intense opposition, know that increase is on the way. You will be fruitful, because the Lord has ordained it to be so. The enemy will not win. God has the final say.
Right now, as I stand in faith with you for increase, breakthrough, deliverance and fruitfulness, I’m stirring Psalm 115:14-15 NKJV into your cup of inspiration, which says, “May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
As you drink down the contents of your cup, prepare for the manifestation of your Rehoboth, the place where God makes room for you to be fruitful.
Up to this point it may have been a struggle, but change is coming your way, because no one can stop or steal the harvest God has predestined just for you.
Now let’s pray.
God, thank You for increase, favor and fruitfulness. Despite the hardship I have experienced, I yet believe that a divine harvest is on the way. As I obey Your word, walk in Your will and remain faithful in every season, I rejoice for the great things You have already prepared for me to possess. In Jesus' name, Amen.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!
If you need prayer, don't hesitate to request it. I would be honored to stand in faith with you. I know that prayer works. CLICK HERE to learn how to submit your prayer request.
