Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great ~ Genesis 26: 12-13.
Introduction:
The plan of God for the righteous is verily good in all contents (Jeremiah 29:11). God didn’t plan for us to live just an ordinary, natural life, but a supernatural life of overflowing harvests, full of relevance, significance, signs and wonders (Proverbs 28:20). Yes indeed, supernatural living is meant to be the norm for God’s children (Philippians 4:19).
Harvest time comes when the “corn” is ripe by the mercy of God. Supernatural harvest is a definite work of God’s grace. It is an increase orchestrated by supernatural inputs whilst the enemies of harvest are beaten out and wearied away by the power of God (John 10:10).
Supernatural harvest surpasses human understanding. It is inexplicable by all human indicators and clearly beyond the natural (Psalm 112:1-3). Even then, we all must admit that overflowing harvests are not always found down the typical fields (Psalms 25:10).
Oftentimes, even when we are at the center of God’s Will, the Lord may allow us to experience seasons of famine and adversities before He eventually brings us to a place of supernatural abundance (Psalm 66:12). He has the wherewithal to turn our barren situations to our greatest blessings! However, our understanding and personal cooperation with the Holy Spirit are essential in this regard.
Nowadays, much emphasis is often placed on the “seed” and the “harvest”, but the process necessary to release the harvest begins with the “sower”. Yes, every seed has an amazing God-given potential to multiply to bumper harvests, yet the sower is indispensable to the harvest (John 12:24).
The sower determines the quality and the quantity of seed to be sown. He decides where the seed will be planted, and also watches over the field in order to ensure the optimum growing conditions necessary to release the seed’s power to multiply and produce the harvest. Until the sower disperses the seed, there is no harvest in view!
I must affirm at this point that these same principles apply in the spiritual realm and, as Jesus Christ said, an even greater supernatural harvest is promised us in our kingdom dealings (Mark 4:26-27).
We sow our seed each time we propagate the gospel either by words or deeds, or we give our time, energy, talents, influences or financial support to the work of the Lord. As that seed is cast, it produces precious fruits in the lives of men and women who are rescued from sin and transformed for eternity.
Certainly, there is no meaningful way of talking about harvest without making mention of reapers. Reapers are the indispensable joysticks at harvest times (John 4:36). Usually, the “sowers” are also the “reapers” in the predictable cycle of harvest. They must be true, faithful and wise-hearted, or else the harvest will abort!
Gleaning from the story of Isaac in Genesis 26:1-28, I discovered seven wisdom keys that could enhance overflowing harvests for the believers anytime as it did for Isaac even at the time of famine.
Seven Wisdom Keys Guaranteeing Overflowing Harvests
#1. Praise God in every situation, even in famine (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Psalms 67:5-7). Don’t worry and don’t grumble in famine, or resort to self-help methodologies. When you worry, the psychological law of reversed effort will naturally set in to obliterate your expected harvest. Knowing that grumblers eventually get grounded, Isaac never complained in his season of famine. He rather focused on God.
#2. Incline yourself to the Holy Ghost and to pastoral instructions in order to locate the specific Will of God for your life (Ezekiel 34:23-29). Isaac poised himself for God’s Will and he didn’t miss it (Genesis 26:2-3).
God's direction may not be what everyone else deems "crucial", yet it remains the major “critical factor” of any human distinction on earth (Psalms 16:11).
#3. Be golden. Stay with God’s revealed plan for your life through a lifestyle of obedience (Leviticus 26:3-5). Isaac dwelt where God planted him, and he stayed there long enough for God to prosper him there (Genesis 26:6).
Friends, remember: there is a heavenly appointed “there” for “thee”. Until “thee” gets “there” and abides, “thee” may not blossom or even feed well (1 King 17:4).
#4. Be fully focused and avoid distractions (Hebrews 12:2). There was a major interregnum here between the time of famine and the experience of plenty, a major interlude, so to say, in the life of Isaac — he had a big marital crisis — but he remained undeterred and eventually enjoyed the Lord’s favour (Genesis 26:7-11).
#5. Avoid procrastination (John 4:35). “And Isaac” acted promptly on the revealed will of God, and he prospered (Genesis 26:6). Procrastination is the thief of fulfillment, and a big enemy of glowing destinies. “Tomorrow”, you see, is the name of the road that leads to the city called “Never”.
#6. Invest your energy to work hard on the project at hand (Proverbs 6:6-11; 10:5). Isaac tilled the ground and dug wells in that land, and he became very great (Genesis 26:15-25).
Basically, hard-work is God's strategy for meeting our needs — spiritual, material and psychological (Genesis 2:5; Joel 3:13-14). The time of harvest is here, we all must step out in faith and be involved in the overflow (Proverbs 10:5; 20:4).
#7. Cultivate God’s Presence in your life and engage your pure faith in Christ to sow even in your season of famine and see Him bringing you an overflowing harvest. Miracles come when you trust God for them. Like one wise woman said: miracles come in "cans", not in "can'ts".
Albeit, miracles are guaranteed when they are powered by God’s Word in the ambience of God’s Presence (Luke 5:5). No wonder, when Isaac built an alter in that famished land, he secured God’s Presence and attracted His mercy upon the seed sown (Genesis 26:12, 25, 28).
Please do everything you can to build up your faith in God (Jude 1:20). If you ever feel that your time has expired for bumper harvests of souls and pure blessings, just recall that Abraham was quite old when God gave him Isaac. But, while doing this, please be pretty well prepared to be envied!
Envy, no doubt, is a very powerful and highly destructive negative emotion; but, God has securely positioned you in Christ, and no man will be able to destroy you (Colossians 3:3). The haters will rather come to beg you, like the Philistines did to Isaac (Genesis 26:14, 26-28).
Friends, repent, be born-again and believe God for an overflowing harvest, and it shall be so for you. Your season of laughter has just begun, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!
- Bishop Taiwo Akinola,
Rhema Christian Church,
Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
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