Are you dancing in the Lord? I am dancing in the Lord. Amen😂. I’m not sure how that song came, but it was the first thing that came to mind as I started typing, and I knew that I had to leave it in. Day twenty of twenty-one, and my heart is full because what was a thought in my head at the beginning of the year is one day from being complete. One of the things this challenge has strengthened is that I can keep my word, and for me, it’s comforting because lately, there have been some areas where I haven’t been keeping my word, and now I’m more committed to it. DDK would call it the principle of transferable competence. You can take the transfer of what worked in one area of your life and see how to apply the same principles in another area. And in the sense of accountability, I’m committing to find one hour every day to continue writing, so help me God.

You see, one of my friends and sisters told me about a time-tracking app called “Clockify,” and it is really good. I have only been using it for about a week now, but it has shown me something really profound. I knew that I had been taking about an hour or less to write and publish each blog post, but I wasn’t sure. What the Clockify tracker helps you to do is start the timer once you are about to start a task, and you stop it when you’re done. It’s so good because you can actually have data about how you logged your time each day on your core activities, and it helps you see where you’re spending your time. It can show you how much time you’re spending with God. So back to my writing, I started logging my time from Day 15, and it showed me that I use roughly about an hour. If I could find one hour everyday eveb when I was tired, to find the time to write because I wanted to keep my word. I should be able to find one hour daily no matter what. Maybe I should start an accountability group for this, called “One Hour Daily.” I can already see the vision, and we can try it for one month. Let’s do it for August. What do you say? I realize that I thrive in accountability. If you’re in, send me a DM, and maybe we could challenge ourselves to do something for just one hour. It can be anything. Like I mentioned in one of the posts. I really want to steward my writing. I might or might not post what I write. I can finally start on the resources I’ve been wanting to create but kept procrastinating. If I get at least 5 responses, then we will start in August. Just for August, as I don’t want to overdo it.

Interestingly, I am just getting to what I want to write about, but I think God took us on a detour. This morning, as I was doing my devotion, God reminded me of a word, and it felt like, yeah, I can write and share about it, and maybe it might just encourage someone.

One of those days when I was reading about the parable of the sower in the Bible. It’s a familiar parable, and you can check it out in Matthew 13:3-23, Mark 4:2-20, and Luke 8:4-15. One of the striking things that I love about God’s word is how the revelation differs. One day you’re reading a scripture, and something is jumping out at you. Another day, it’s the same scripture and a different lesson or revelation. It’s the multifaceted nature of the Word, and I love it so much. Back to the parable, one of the things we’ve been taught about this is the fact that we need to have a right heart and “soil.” The other thing that we have been taught is that the harvest comes in different folds; we understand the thirty, sixty, and hundredfold. And on this particular day, God was opening my eyes to another defining angle that He reminded me of again this morning.

From the parable, it was already clear that the seed is the word of God. But the word is a combination of different kinds of seeds. Let’s use what we learned in biology and agriculture. So a mango seed is different from an apple and from any other plant or fruit. So when a farmer or a gardener plants Mango or cucumber, he or she expects, at the end of the season, to harvest what they planted. The expectation of harvest after a mango seed is the harvest of mangoes. If an apple comes at the end, something went wrong. God, during that revelation, was opening my eyes not to relent until I see with my eyes the seed of His word I have planted. I understand that in Agric is pretty straightforward due to consistency of times and seasons; the farmers already expect when to expect the harvest of whatever they have planted. It’s not the same for us when we’re waiting on a word. It can drag for years, and I’m going to use a very personal example to make this land.

It takes about 5-8 years for a mango seed planted to bear its first fruit. I know this experientially because when we moved to our former house in Nigeria in 2000, for some reason, I’m not sure why my parents wanted to plant a mango tree, but they did. And I have a vivid recollection of when it was planted. Year after year, nothing happened, but I can remember the steady growth from when it became a young tree to a full-grown tree with just leaves till when the signs of the first fruit came. It took seven years, if I’m not mistaken, for that mango tree to bear its first fruit, and I remember that we gave the very first one to my mum. And after that year, it had mango fruits steadily. We didn’t have to buy mangoes during the mango season because we had one at home. I’m not sure if the tree is still there because we have moved, but except that the tree is cut down, it will continue to bear mango fruits. For something that took 7 years to bring forth its first one.

The promises of God are like that: some come very fast, and some, like perennial trees, take a little longer. In the case of our Mango tree, we didn’t have to do anything after planting. Nature took its course, and every rain and every sun provided the nutrients it needed. In our case, we have to co-create with God. Every time we speak and confess the word, the particular seed that was either given to us or found in the Bible. That’s us adding the rain and the necessary nutrients that the seed needs. 

The more we confess that word back to God, it’s us reminding Him that we’re still expecting the harvest of what He promised us. This is what happened to me this morning. My heart was just bearing to God about this promise, and He said, What is the harvest of this promise? I told Him, and it was then, “Don’t relent until you see the manifestation.” He also brought to my heart the harvest that I can already see. Remember, God has a resume. The same God who did that will do this too. My heart just has to be firmly anchored that though this one is taking a little longer to manifest, my eyes are still on the harvest. My mouth will continue to declare, and God will bring His word to pass. Maybe I’ll share when it happens. Yes, I will.

So what are you waiting on God for? What “seed” of promise have you been holding on to? And it’s very practical: Are you trusting God for marriage? The harvest is your partner, the wedding, and the life you both live after. Is it tuition or maybe the fruit of the womb, maybe even a character or personality you want to develop? God knew that we were going to need multiple “seeds,’ so He richly gave us His word. Either the specific one He gave you for that promise or the one you found in scripture, keep at it, keep declaring, because your harvest is on its way. 

I’ll leave you with Hebrews 6:12 NIV

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Faith and patience are the secrets to inheriting the promise.

See you one last time tomorrow