At Just the Right Time

Galations 6:9 is an often-quoted verse.  It was written by the Apostle Paul to encourage believers to continue to walk in what is right, even in tough times, because we will eventually reap a harvest from the good we sow.

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

We all want to know when due season is, don't we?  Let's look at this verse in a few translations and versions, because I believe that will shine some light on what Paul meant by due season.

The Amplified Bible Classic Edition (AMPC):

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.

Tne New International Version (NIV):

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

The Passion Translation (TPT):

And don’t allow yourselves to be weary or disheartened in planting good seeds, for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming!

The New Living Translation (NLT) may say it the best:

So 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.

Due season is basically the appropriate time, the proper time, just the right time.  If we continue to do good and not give up, we will reap.  God is not late.  He knows the best time, the perfect time, for the harvest to be reaped in each situation.

In farming, the farmer knows when to bring in the harvest.  He checks the crops to see if it has matured sufficiently and if the fruit has grown to its full size and ripeness.  If he brings it in prematurely, the harvest will be smaller, less than perfect, maybe even unusable.  Imagine if an ear of corn was harvested too early in its development.  The kernels would be tiny, hard, and with a bad, sour flavor.  And it would take a lot more ears of corn to make a full meal.

If the harvest comes to us too early, it might not be as full as it would have had it waited.  God is working behind the scenes to make things happen, to line up blessings and favor for us.  I don't know about you, but I want everything God has for me.  I don't want to short-change myself by settling for a premature harvest. We cannot become impatient and abort the process of the blessing.

The same is true with us spiritually.  As we continue to walk in His Word, we will grow and develop.  Waiting on the Lord allows us to grow and become strong in Him.  If we receive a harvest too early, it could interfere with our own growth process.  You cannot rush the harvest.  Everything in the Kingdom of God happens by the process of seedtime and harvest.  

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Genesis 8:22 (NIV)

We must be diligent to continue to do what is right, especially when we get tired, or weary, of doing it.  We must walk in the patience and perseverence that the Holy Spirit has given us. 

We can take heart from James 1:3-4 (AMPC):

Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

The Lord will not fail us if we trust Him and do not give up.  God's time is always the right time.  Hang in there; His reward is on its way to you.