It happens every day doesn’t it?  Usually, around 4 p.m., we start giving serious consideration to the looming question of “what’s for dinner?”

On some days, dinner becomes a bowl of cereal, or we might overpay for takeout, just to put “food on the table”.

But on our best days, we have a plan.  We have prepared ahead of time.  We have thawed something out, we have chopped the veggies, or better yet, it’s already in the crock pot!  On those days there is peace of mind knowing that we will not be scrambling at the dinner hour to meet our needs.

Isaiah 55:10-11 says “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

What we see in this scripture is God’s provision for now, and His provision for later too.  God sends the rain and snow to earth to water the plants and to sustain life on earth in the present.  But He also sends the rain knowing that the same plants that need rain immediately to flourish, will use the water to grow and supply seeds for the future.  This is God providing for us now, and later.

Often times we live in the now.   

We pray in the now.  

We worry in the now. 

And we plan in the now.

But Isaiah reminds us that God sends rain to provide for our futures too, with seeds of faith.  You see, if we get rain for our plants to grow, for us to drink, and to make bread with today, but we do not have seeds for the future, we won’t have what we need to sustain us.

The same principal applies to our spiritual lives.

Let’s face it, some days there is just too much to do.  And it starts as soon as our feet hit the floor in the morning. 

Maybe you woke to a little one crying for your attention.  Maybe your eyes pop open with a to do list rolling through your brain.  Maybe you didn’t sleep well (or at all) because of worry.  Maybe you didn’t get up as early as you needed to in order to accomplish all that you wanted (or needed) to that morning before having to rush out the door. 

Those things happen to all of us.  It can be difficult on days like that, to give God time.  To sit at His feet and read His love letter to us.  So many issues press in on our time, and we succumb to the crisis of the immediate.  Whatever screams the loudest for our attention, gets it.

But what happens when we take the time to put Him first?  When we read His word and consider how we can apply it to our lives? 

We gather seeds for the future.  We begin to arm our hearts with truth that will sustain us.  We deepen our faith roots and have an abundance of “seeds” that we can fall back on when needs arise in the future.  We have provision for the present and assurance for the future.

On the days when you don’t think you can, when there’s just too much happening, do it anyway.  On the days when your heart is heavy and you just don’t want to, do it anyway.  On the days when you don’t think you need it, do it anyway.

You will be glad you did.  And you will be planting seeds for your future.  You will have a “harvest” to fall back on in the dry times.

Jesus will meet you there.  When you and I “store up His word in our hearts”, He can bring it to mind to comfort and lead us on another day.  But the opposite is also true, we cannot “draw water from an empty well”.  Nor can we harvest seeds that have not been planted.  We need to prepare.

Now, don’t misunderstand me here.  I am not talking about perfection.  Naturally, there will be days that we don’t get in the Word.  There are legitimate circumstances that prevent that time from happening.  But…when we faithfully make spending time in his word our goal and priority, instead of only trying to “squeeze it in somewhere”, we can be certain that the truths of scripture will make their way deeper into our lives where it matters most. Then God can use them as seeds, as future provision. 

Somedays, we need His word right now, like bread to take away our hunger.  Other days, we hold on to it like seeds for the future.  Both are important, both are good.  But we can strive for better than just the crisis of the immediate. 

So, I challenge you.  Read His word every day.  For a week straight?  A month?  Just do it.  You will find that you are able to recall loving truth to lead and comfort you when your “dinner time crisis” looms.  You will have a plan; you will have it “in the crock pot!”

Then God says that His word “will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Just like rain.  (vs 11)

Preparing ahead creates trust and peace of mind. 

And faith.