The Heart of a King - Perserverence to Maturity

The heart of a King perseveres to maturity. Luke 8:15 says ‘but the seed on good soil stands for those with a good and noble heart, who hear the Word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.’ Leadership in business, family or ministry requires perseverance to bring forth the harvest of what was planted. In our quick and easy culture we have a mindset of quick and easy harvest, i.e. plant today at 2pm, harvest tomorrow at 9am. That’s our culture but that’s not God’s kingdom.

I recall my last post, planting seeds of grain on the prairie. The seed stays covered, sprouts, and grows beneath the surface for a time before it emerges to reveal the potential of a harvest. It emerges as small green stalks and must then grow for a season to mature, ripen and fill out the head of grain, then, and only then, will it produce a full harvest. As leaders we can learn from the lessons of farming.

Many leaders give up on themselves or on people they lead long before the emergence of the green stalk above the soil, i.e. before the visible potential of a coming harvest. They don’t see anything happening so they dig up the soil looking to see if the seed is still alive and, in the process, uproot and expose it to the elements. They were impatient in ‘retaining’ the seed. They chose to farm by sight rather than farm by faith thus exposing the seed to the wind and the birds through their impatience.

Other leaders are patient while the seed is invisible but get very impatient after the growth is visible, i.e. the visible maturing process for all to see. A stalk of wheat 10 days old looks nothing like a stalk of wheat 90 days old. At 10 days it is short, green like grass and immature. It has some nutrient value but doesn’t have the growth, height and maturity of a full stalk ready for harvest. I’ve seen farmers turn an immature field of short green wheat over to the cattle because they didn’t think there would be adequate growth for a harvest. The cattle go in, eat the green stalks, ending its growth and life. The result is no harvest, not even a minimal harvest because perseverance had not finished its work.

However, some leaders persevere from seed to sprout, from green stalk to mature stalk and from a small seed head to a full head of grain bringing in a harvest of the full potential.

The heart of a King not only desires a harvest from their sowing, but perseveres through stages of growth that bring forth the harvest. I know a lot of people who desire a harvest, but not many who will persevere through the maturing of the grain. Many hearts are filled with impatience, faux faith, cultural time perspectives, inconsistent living, and lack of commitment to the harvest. They desire but don’t persevere. Such hearts have not been transformed and never rule with the heart of a King.

If you find yourself impatient with persevering through the growth process, there’s good news…….The Father is not done with you yet! He is faithful to finish the work of grace in your heart IF you let Him. Impatience turns to perseverance, faux faith turns to fighting faith, and inconsistent lives become consistent lives, lack of commitment turns to passionate pursuit. IF… you LET HIM CHANGE YOU.

Let’s pray…..Father, I thank you that each person reading these words open their heart to your finishing work in their hearts. Father, I pray that those who have ears to hear do not harden their hearts, but soften them to your grace to persevere through the growing process, And, Father, I thank you that you are faithful as each person opens themselves to your finishing work Your grace is sufficient to persevere through any season that leads to maturity and harvest.