Growing Pains: Waiting for God's Harvest and Provision

Matthew’s parable begins in a field where good seed has been planted, but the growing season reveals something troubling. The wheat is not alone. Weeds are growing right beside it, and the servants are confused because the soil had been prepared, tilled, and made ready. The master tells them plainly that he did not plant that mess. An enemy came in the middle of the night and sowed those weeds.

The field becomes a picture of what life looks like before harvest time. The servants want to go pull the weeds up right away, but the master says no. The weeds are too mixed in with the wheat, and pulling them too soon would tear up what is good along with what is bad. The command is to let both grow together until the harvest, then the reapers will separate what belongs in the fire from what belongs in the barn.

Jesus names the enemy as the devil, and the weeds as the evil ones who do harm in the world. The growing season is not easy because the weeds can look like they are taking over. The present moment can feel that way too, with chaos, confusion, broken promises, rising costs, wars, debt, and leaders looking out for themselves while ordinary people suffer. The field still belongs to God, but the weeds are real, and the growing pains are being felt.

The growing pains are signs and warnings, not proof that God has failed. God has gotten attention before through hard seasons like embargoes, disease, 9/11, Y2K fears, COVID, and every crisis that made people ask if the last days had arrived. Jesus still says that no man knows the day or the hour, not even the Son, but only the Father. The call is not to guess the calendar, but to be ready.

God’s care holds his people in the middle of the growing season. Matthew 6 still says the Father feeds the birds and clothes the lilies, and those made in his image are of more value than they are. The wheat may have to wait, but it is not forgotten. Trouble does not last always, and growing pains are only temporary.

Harvest time will tell the truth. The weeds will be bundled and burned, and the wheat will be gathered into the barn. The question is whether a person will be found in the harvest of salvation or among those wailing and gnashing their teeth because repentance came too late. The choice is now, and the good news is that God never fails his people.

##

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. The field holds mixed growth The parable does not pretend that good and evil grow in separate places. The wheat and weeds stand side by side, and that closeness explains why life can feel so confusing. God’s patience is not weakness, because premature judgment could tear up what he means to save. [37:47]
• 2. Growing pains are not abandonment The hard season may feel like the weeds are overwhelming the grain, but the field is still under the Master’s eye. God’s people have been through trouble before, and the fact that they are still standing testifies that provision has not stopped. Pain in the growing season is real, but it is not the final word. [45:32]
• 3. God provides while people wait Matthew 6 does not remove hardship, but it gives hardship a boundary. The Father who feeds birds and clothes lilies does not forget those made in his image. Waiting becomes an act of trust when patience has to lean on God’s character instead of visible results. [46:25]
• 4. Harvest time will separate truth The weeds may look like they are winning for a season, but the end belongs to God. Evil will not explain itself away when the harvest comes, and regret will not replace repentance. The urgency of salvation rests in the fact that the choice must be made before the field is gathered. [48:04]
• 5. Trouble does not last always The phrase is not a shallow escape from suffering, because the parable has already admitted how tangled the field can become. The hope rests in the Master’s promise that harvest time is coming. Growing pains are temporary because God has already appointed an end to them.
  
  ## [50:18]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [34:55] - Introduction and Scripture Reading
• [35:14] - Let Both Grow Until Harvest
• [35:40] - Growing Pains and Seeing Faith
• [36:40] - Weeds Found Among the Wheat
• [37:47] - Why the Weeds Stay for Now
• [39:14] - Last Days and Present Signs
• [41:20] - Crises That Get Attention
• [42:57] - Modern Weeds in the Field
• [45:32] - God Never Fails His People
• [46:25] - The Father Provides in Trouble
• [47:17] - The Enemy Who Sows Weeds
• [48:04] - Judgment, Regret, and Repentance
• [49:04] - Wheat, Weeds, and the Choice
• [50:18] - Growing Pains Are Temporary

Bible Reading

Matthew 13:24-30
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” [35:14]

Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” [46:25]

Matthew 24:36
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

Observation questions

1. In the parable, what do the servants notice in the field, and what reason does the master give for how the weeds got there? [36:40]
2. Why does the master tell the servants not to pull the weeds up right away, and what is supposed to happen at harvest time? [37:47]
3. What are some of the troubles named in this growing season that make it feel like the weeds are overwhelming the wheat? [42:57]
4. In Matthew 6, what examples does Jesus use to show the Father’s care, and what repeated command does he give about worry? [46:25]

Interpretation questions

1. If the wheat and weeds grow side by side until harvest, what does that suggest about why life can feel spiritually confusing even in a world that still belongs to God? [39:14]
2. Jesus says no one knows the day or the hour. How does that shape the difference between chasing predictions and living ready before God? [42:32]
3. If the weeds are allowed to remain for a season, how might that show both God’s patience and God’s commitment to protect what belongs to him? [38:04]
4. The image of wailing and gnashing of teeth points to regret when repentance has been put off too long. What does that reveal about the difference between feeling bad for sin and truly turning from it? [48:32]

Application questions

1. Where does life currently feel most like a field mixed with wheat and weeds for you—home, work, church, finances, or something else? How has that mixture affected your peace? [45:32]
2. When the weeds seem to be winning, what is the usual response—fear, anger, cynicism, control, shutting down, or something else? What would it look like to wait on God without giving up? [48:04]
3. Jesus says the Father feeds the birds and clothes the lilies. What is one specific area where anxiety has been loud lately, and what would trusting God for daily provision look like there this week? [46:49]
4. Since no one knows the day or the hour, what does being ready actually mean in everyday life? Is there any area of delay, compromise, or half-heartedness that needs attention now? [49:20]
5. Evil can look strong for a season, but harvest will tell the truth. How might that help someone stop envying people who prosper through selfishness, dishonesty, or harm? [47:28]
6. Trouble does not last always. What past season has already shown that God can carry his people through hard times, and how could that memory strengthen faith in this season? [45:41]
7. There are only two final outcomes in the harvest. Is there confidence about belonging to Christ, or is there hesitation that needs to be faced honestly? What would repentance or renewed assurance look like today? [49:37]