BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“Lord, why did You do that?” I asked. He said, “That’s from the seed you sowed into those missionaries.” “But, Lord, I never asked You for a harvest on that,” I told Him. “No, you didn’t, but I never forget a seed sown.” The Word says He remembers all our offerings (Psalm 20:3). We may forget, but the Lord never does. Your Harvest Will Come When a farmer plants corn, he plants it between April and June, then he harvests it between October and November. It happens that way every year. The farmer knows when his harvest will come. He’s operating in faith because he has to trust the soil and he has to trust the seed. But he has no real concern about the harvest itself—because he knows, year after year, it’s coming! We know, because we trust God’s Word, that our harvest will come. But unlike a farmer, we don’t always know exactly in what season it will arrive. So what happens while we wait? Do we remain in faith, or do we give up? Harvest Comes in Due Season In Galatians 6:7-10, the Apostle Paul sheds some light on this: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: FOR IN DUE SEASON WE SHALL REAP, IF WE FAINT NOT. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (emphasis mine). This passage is all about sowing and reaping. We will reap, but Paul says our harvest will come “in due season,” or as some would say, “in God’s timing.” The "Amplified Bible, Classic Edition" says, “in due time and at the appointed season.” The word appointed means a “fixed, set, established, ordained or allotted time.” “An appointed time” in the Bible is a predetermined time set by God. In other words, we can’t set the time when we’d like our harvest to come. It is a time that God, and God alone, sets. Out of the Prophet’s Mouth Sometimes our harvest comes faster than we think. In 2 Kings 7:1, the prophet Elisha said, “Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.” Notice God told the prophet to say, “tomorrow about this time.” In other words, God put a time frame on the harvest, and His prophet spoke it. The Lord said the appointed time—the due season—through a word decreed out of the prophet’s mouth. What if Brother Copeland, as a prophet of the Lord, said, “Tomorrow everyone who’s a sower of seed will reap an abundant harvest”? If God inspired him to say it, then I probably wouldn’t even go to bed. I’d be too busy talking and preparing for my harvest! That’s exactly what God decreed through the prophet Elisha, and it happened exactly the way God said. The Lord predestined it and it happened, even though the city of Samaria had been cut off from all supplies and no one in the city had anything to eat. In the midst of all that, the prophet spoke: “This time tomorrow.” How did God make that prophetic word come to pass? He used lepers, outcasts who sat ready to die on the outskirts of the city, to perform that miracle. One of them said to the others, “Why sit we here until we die?” (verse 3). They figured if they were going to die anyway, they might as well die while doing something. So they got up and started walking toward the enemy’s camp. Lepers! What could they possibly do to change the situation in Samaria? But God is the God of wonders. He used those least likely to bring about a major breakthrough. Those lepers started marching toward the enemy’s camp, and God magnified the sound of their footsteps. It sounded like an entire army! The enemies were so frightened they took off and left everything at the camp. They left all the food, all the weapons and all the goods. When those lepers arrived in the camp and saw no one there, they began to enjoy the harvest. 10 : BVOV

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