When Planting Yields No Fruit

You have planted much, but have harvested little....

 

Haggai 1:6

Have you ever worked and worked only to yield very little from your efforts?

 

Such was the case for certain believers during the time of the prophet Haggai. Finally, God spoke through the prophet Haggai to inform the people why their efforts were not yielding any fruit.

 

There was a specific reason this was happening:

"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of My house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands" (Haggai 1:9-11).

In these verses we see that God had finally had enough and His priorities were not His people's priorities.

 

So, He withheld in order to get their attention.

 

Zerubbabel was governor of Judah at the time. He was a godly man who sought to do God's will.

 

He listened as the prophet gave these words; then he responded.

"Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord" (Haggai 1:12).

Sometimes God has to stir up the spirit of one man to initiate needed change—Zerubbabel was that man. Scriptures say, "The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel" (Haggai 1:14).

 

God is stirring up the spirit of a remnant of believers that are sensitive to the move of the power of the indwelling Spirit in their lives in order to accomplish great things for the Kingdom. God is looking for those who are not striving to move things forward, but those who are seeking to let go and let Him have His way in their lives.

 

Has God placed the spirit of Zerubbabel in you?

 

Are you one who willing to stop striving for the Kingdom, or are you concerned about building bigger and better barns?

 

God calls us to trust Him with every area of our lives, so why do we try to fit the mode of operation of this world instead of being stirred in our spirit to follow and live by faith as He has created us to do.

 

As we do we will see that it is not in the striving, but in the resting in Him that we will see a bountiful harvest that He has for us and it will overfull and be a blessing for the Kingdom!