Paul Daugherty - How GOD USES the WEEDS and WHEAT
Summary
In this sermon on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds from Matthew 13, the preacher explains that God allows good and bad to grow together in our lives until the final harvest, just like wheat and weeds in the same field. The key idea is that we shouldn't rush to pull out the difficult people or painful situations, because God uses everything—the weeds included—to produce a greater harvest in us. In the end, no matter what the enemy plants, God will turn it all for our good and bring blessing and fruitfulness out of it.
Introduction to the Parable
All right, everybody, say “Harvest.” All right, if you’ve got a Bible, go to Matthew 13. Matthew 13, come on, we’re a Word church; we shout for the Word of God. Matthew 13. If you don’t have a Bible, we’ll put it up on the screen. I want to look at this parable through a different lens. This is called the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, the Parable of the Wheat, or it might say in your Bible, the Parable of the Weeds, or the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. But this parable is about how God is going to allow people who are saved and people who are unsaved to live in the same place, growing together at the same time, and that He won’t make a decision on what’s going to happen until the very end.
Be careful not to judge something until it’s the end. Be careful not to judge what the harvest is until it’s actually at the harvest. We’re in such a hurry sometimes to try to figure out and sort things out when we’re in the middle of something. God says you don’t know it until it’s at the end. Sometimes you don’t know what a season is until ten years later. In one season, you may want to stop it or pluck it out, but God says let it grow. Somebody say, “Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow.”
The Parable Begins
Verse 24, Matthew 13, Jesus told them another parable. Jesus always talked in stories. Anytime people question why we do films and stories and have theatrical arts in the church, see, if Jesus were alive, I think He’d be using films and stories and theatrical arts to convey His principles and messages. So He was telling a parable; He was showing them a movie. He said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed. How many of you are sowing some good seed in your life? The fact that you came to church was a good seed. The fact that you opened your Bible, that’s a good seed towards your future. By the way, everything in this world is a seed. Everything in this world; your life is a seed, your family is a seed, your future is a seed, your time is a seed, your presence in the room is a seed, and it’s a seed that’s going to produce a harvest someday.
So, if you don’t like the current harvest you’re in, sow some better seed. If you don’t like the current addictions you’re struggling with, sow some good seed today to change the habits for tomorrow. If you don’t like the thought patterns and the systems you’ve been stuck in, sow some better seed today. So He was sowing good seed. Everybody say good seed. He was sowing good seed in His field.
The Enemy Sows Weeds
But verse 25, something happens, and this happens to all of us: while he was sleeping, while everyone was sleeping, the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then he slipped away. The enemy came in when everyone was sleeping in the dark, and he began to sow weeds where there had been good seeds. When the wheat sprouted up, now they didn’t notice anything at first. There wasn’t a noticeable change at first. Things didn’t happen immediately; it was over time. That’s why you’ve got to be careful what’s going on, because you don’t see it sometimes until you’re further down the road. As the wheat began to sprout and form heads, the weeds also appeared. Now they were seeing it months later; they began to see something had happened.
Watch, the owner’s servants came to him and said, “Sir, didn’t you sow good seed? Didn’t you plant good seed in your field? Didn’t you sow kind words? Weren’t you encouraging? Weren’t you doing the right thing? You were teaching! You were showing up! You were doing all the good things! Where then did these weeds come from?” Verse 28, he says, “An enemy did this.” There’s an enemy after your life; there’s an enemy after your seed; there’s an enemy that wants to destroy your harvest. We know who that enemy is; it’s the devil. But the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and he says an enemy came and did this.
The servant said, “Do you want us to pull them up?” Watch this: “Do you want us to pull them up?” And he says, “No.” Verse 29, this is interesting, because while you’re pulling up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with the weeds. So I say, “Let them both grow together until the harvest.” I want to title this message, “God Will Use It All.” Tell that person next to you, “God will use it all.”
Deeper Meaning of the Parable
Now, let me just clarify one thing. This parable clearly is talking about the saved and the unsaved. However, Jesus always had double, triple, and even quadruple connections to His parables. When you read the parable about the seed and the sowing and the four different soils, Jesus always had a little bit deeper meaning. In fact, He told people when they were listening, He said, “I speak in parables to hide the kingdom of God for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.” It requires digging a little deeper. The Pharisees would trip when they heard Jesus preach; they would get so angry over the initial understanding of a parable. But Jesus had something deeper. Everybody say “go deeper.”
So we look at the parable, and we go, “Okay, it’s the saved and the unsaved.” But also, when you look in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, one thing is clear: God allowed both good and evil to be present in the same field. God allowed both good and bad things to be present in the people that He chose to use. There was never a character God used that didn’t walk through both good and evil, both valleys and mountaintops, both hard times, weeds, and wheat. Everybody say “weeds and wheat!”
Joseph's Story: Good and Bad Together
All right, so I’ve got some weeds with me and I’ve got some wheat. You know I’m an illustrative preacher here. And He says, “Don’t pull it out! Don’t pull it out! Let them both grow together!” If you were to just start even looking at the characters God used in the Bible, let’s start with Joseph. Joseph had the seed of a dream when he was 17. By the way, a seed is really small. Everything starts really small. Both good and bad things that you’re struggling with today that are massive started really small when you were really little. So, Joseph has this dream. God wants to give a dream seed to every person in this room. God wants to insert your heart and mind with a Holy Spirit dream to live your life for the glory of God.
You’re in church today, and the word is being preached like a seed. Jesus says the word is like a seed being planted, and His word doesn’t return void. Here’s what I know: no matter how bad of a preacher I am, the Word of God never returns void; it will accomplish what God wants it to. Oh, that’s good! Come on! No matter who’s the preacher, the Word’s going to produce something in you! So, Joseph gets a dream. Everybody say that’s good! But then he starts getting hated on by his brothers. Say that’s bad! Joseph’s life is a lot like this parable. Joseph has good things happening right next to bad things happening, kind of like your life.
You know, Joseph, on one day, would be decorated by his father with a robe of many colors, celebrated, favored by his dad, and on that same day, his brothers would despise him and hate him—both good and bad growing in the same field, growing in the same house! Cain and Abel growing in the same house! When God put Adam and Eve in the garden, both good and evil were present in the same field. He said, “This is the tree of knowledge of good and evil; don’t eat from this tree. You can eat from all these other good trees except for this one.” God never forces good things and good decisions on our lives, but He’s going to use it all! Somebody say, “God’s going to use it all.”
Weeds in Our Lives
So, Joseph’s brothers abuse him; they beat him; they throw him in a pit. Say that’s bad! Weeds! Oh, if we could just pull the weeds out of our lives, we’d just have a perfect, flawless wheat field of harvest! But God says let them both grow together; let them both grow together! “Don’t pull it out! Don’t pull it out!” If I could just work at a company where I had perfect co-workers around me who never frustrated me! If I didn’t have any weeds to work around in my house! Some of the relationships that are just weedy—how many of you know what I’m talking about? Don’t look at them; they’re sitting on your row right now!
You’re like, “God, I love them, but I’m good not seeing them until the Rapture when we all get to heaven.” God’s like, “Nope! You’re going to grow together!” So, Joseph’s brothers now throw him in a pit! That’s bad! And while he’s in a pit one of the brothers says, “Hold on, we can make money off him. Instead of leaving him to die, let’s sell him to this caravan.” Interestingly, if you read Genesis 38, 39, 40, 41, the story of Joseph, there was a caravan traveling of Ishmaelite travelers. Ishmaelite were the descendants of Ishmael. Ishmael was the other child of Abraham.
We always talk about the promised child; we’re like, “Woo! Abraham waited by faith and received his promise!” Isaac! Except for the time that he slept with Hagar and had a child named Ishmael. Don’t leave out the weeds! God’s going to use it all! I don’t know who I’m preaching to; I just felt this word this week. So, the Ishmaelites, a hundred years after Ishmael is dead, his family members are traveling down the road, and they see a group of brothers who had beaten up one of the younger brothers, Joseph, and they say, “We’ll buy him!” And they sell Joseph as a slave to the Ishmaelites.
The Ishmaelites were used by God to deliver Joseph to a land called Egypt. Egypt was the dream Joseph had. It was a dream of leading a nation! God will use all kinds of people to get you to the place He’s called you to go. There’s a harvest in you! If you’re waiting to take notes, note-takers are history-makers, world-changers! God will not remove all the weeds in your life; God expects you to produce wheat even next to weeds! God expects you to be productive even next to people that are trying to steal your harvest. He says, “Don’t stop the weeds; let them both grow together!”
Bloom Among the Weeds
He who has ears to hear, let them hear! Hear what the Spirit is saying. You go, “Oh, that’s not what the parable means.” You’ve got to look deeper! You’ve got to look deeper! You can’t be wheat-full until you’re weed-full. The wheat’s grown right next to the weeds. God didn’t plant the weeds, but God produced the wheat full of harvest right next to the weeds! God’s about to bless you in the presence of your enemies! Joseph, David, you’re going to be anointed! You’re going to a table! David said in Psalm 23, “He sets before me a table, a buffet table, in the presence of my enemies.”
In other words, the weeds that won’t go away will have to watch the wheat thrive right in front of them! God’s going to make you thrive around people that are trying to stop you! Where the enemy has tried to destroy you, God’s about to bless you! Your blessing is not going to happen with no weeds around! Your blessing’s going to happen right in the middle of the weeds! I remember working at a camp in Maryland, Camp Sunshine. I got paid $1.25 an hour; they were breaking labor laws, y’all! But I signed up for it, and I lived in a room that was half the size of this stage with twelve guys.
There were six bunk beds; we all shared a room. We lived in the basement of the owner of the camp’s house. He had a house out in the fields of Maryland; it wasn’t near D.C. It was about 40 miles from D.C., and it was out in this open field pasture area with gravel paths. It was this old house, and we stayed in the basement, twelve of us shared a room in one shower. These guys didn’t wear socks, so their feet, when they took their shoes off, it stunk the whole room! It was stinky; it was weedy! These guys had attitudes; they had issues; they had weird stuff going on.
I was trying to sleep like, “What is going on in here?” And then we’re sharing a shower, and I’m like, “God, get me out of this place! I want a better job!” I was nineteen; I was questioning why I moved there. Sometimes we question seasons we’re in. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says everything under the sun has a season, a time, and a purpose. Everything you’re walking through has a purpose; there’s a timing to everything. There’s a season for every relationship; there’s a purpose for everything under the heavens.
A Personal Illustration: The Sunflower
And so there I was, and I couldn’t see the purpose in it. I would go running on Saturdays. So, I woke up this one Saturday and I was running down this gravel road, and all the fields were just brown and dead and dry, and weeds sprouting up everywhere, and they were ugly-looking weeds. But one field, I remember this one day I was running, and I just started crying, because something happened. I came upon this field, and there was this beautiful, massive sunflower! I’m talking like six feet tall! At six feet tall, and the flower was huge—just a massive sunflower blooming right in the middle of weeds!
And I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Bloom where you’re planted! Bloom right where you’re planted! Bloom among the weeds!” Paul, I hear the Lord saying to some of you today, you’ve got to bloom even with the weeds all around you. Learn how to grow! Last night, as a family, we watched the movie, “The Forge,” which is the second movie from “War Room.” If you haven’t seen it, “The Forge” is so good! In the movie, this boy is growing up with a father who abandoned him, cheated on his mom, and left his mom for another woman. This boy grows up with a lot of hurt and anger towards his dad.
His biological dad doesn’t want to have anything to do with him—just a lot of pain! I mean, he had been dealt a bad hand. But somewhere in the moment of him, his mom praying for him, his mom’s like, “Lord, just get my son on the right track!” He’s nineteen years old, playing video games, just not living his life with purpose. But this man gets in his life and starts mentoring him. And so we’re watching as a family. I’m pausing the movie, trying to talk to the kids. Me and Ashle are talking to the kids, like, “This is what this means.” They’re like, “Let’s just watch the movie!”
Outgrowing the Weeds
I’m like, “I know, but we’ve got to teach lessons as we’re watching it.” And we’re just crying as a family because it’s so powerful! This guy, all the odds have been stacked against him. When you look at the characters in the Bible, I mean, Joseph is just one of many. But the amount of weeds that grow right next to the wheat in people’s lives—you can’t escape the weeds, but you can outgrow the weeds! You can outgrow your haters! Don’t let what they say stop you from growing! Keep growing, keep growing!
Don’t let what they do—someone told me this when I first started pastoring because I was talking about how I was getting some hateful emails. People were comparing me to my dad, saying I’m not as good, and I’m unqualified, and I’m too young, and I’m not the right kid to pastor the church, and I’m just a kid. All these mean things! And somebody said, “Paul, don’t listen to what they say.” And I said, “It’s kind of hard, you know?” And they said, “Stop reading the comments! Stop listening to the haters! Grow anyway!”
You know what’s going to make them mad? When you keep growing anyway! When you keep sowing anyway! When you keep blooming anyway—keep growing it! God’s going to use it all! There was one in particular that I really wanted removed from my life. Don’t try to figure out who it is; he’s not here anymore! All right? He or she? They’re gone! It’s been a long time; I can tell the story; it’s no longer around. It’s many years ago! But I was like, “Lord, remove this weed from my life; it’s like sandpaper! It’s so bad, and it’s frustrating!”
We just—and it’s so—and the Lord said, “No, Paul!” The Apostle said, “God, remove this thorn from my flesh!” He said, “I cried three times, 'God, get rid of the weeds!'” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Paul the Apostle asked for the bad things to be removed, and the Lord said, “No! My grace is sufficient for you!” Isn’t it interesting that God allowed Saul to hunt David like a madman, throwing spears at him? You can argue with me all day theologically, “Well, in the New Testament, God would have killed Saul! He would have stopped Saul! No bad thing would happen to a good person.”
Oh, well, let’s talk about Paul the Apostle then—shipwrecked, bitten by a snake, martyred for his faith! John, on the island of Patmos, burned with oil—literally tried to kill him multiple times! What do you mean, “No bad things going to happen?” Listen, being a Christian doesn’t exempt us from troubles and trials! I don’t know what you bought, but it wasn’t the Bible! Some false self-help teaching? The Bible never promises that we won’t go through trials! Job, Joseph, David— the Bible never promises that we won’t have weeds growing right next to the wheat!
What the Bible does promise is, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in this world.” Be of good cheer! Though you may have troubles in this world, take heart, for I have overcome the world! Jesus has given us the power! Resurrection power is inside you right now!
Principles from the Parable
So, a couple principles from this parable right now. Check your seed! He was sowing good seed! What kind of seed are you sowing? Everything comes by seed! The seed of your heart surrendered to Him, the seed of your time invested in His Word, His presence, the seed of your finances in the mission of God. But here’s another seed we often forget—the seed of your words! What words are you sowing towards your future? Proverbs says you will eat the fruit of your lips! Life and death are in the tongue! Heaven or hell is coming out of your mouth! Your mouth is like a prophetic word!
In 2 Samuel chapter 4, this woman was giving birth to her child right when she got the news that her husband died, her father-in-law died, and the Ark of the Covenant had been stolen from Israel. She names her baby Kabad, for the glory of God has departed! Never name your future by your current circumstances! Never name your future! Never speak a harvest over your future just because you’re walking through a current circumstance! Circumstances change! Be careful what seeds you’re sowing! Just because you’re going through a hard season right now, this parable reminds us that we have power in our words!
Everything that was created—the very first thing that was created was created by words! “Let there be light!” God spoke like a seed, and a harvest came up! As we’re sitting in this room today, we’re sitting in the harvest of words that were spoken by my mother and father, that one day we would have a church auditorium, and people would come from the north, south, east, and west! We’re sitting in the harvest of words! Life and death is in the tongue! Watch the seed that you’re sowing right now! You can’t control the weeds that are around you, but you can control the seeds that you are sowing right now!
Power in the Process
The other thing this parable teaches is that there’s power in the process of seed time and harvest! There’s power in the process of seed time and harvest! Sowing and reaping takes time! The best things in life take time! I was cooking cinnamon rolls yesterday for the kids, and I got the oven preheated, got it ready, and the kids came by. They said, “Are the cinnamon rolls ready?” I said, “No! We haven’t even started yet!” They said, “But I saw you open the can!” I said, “Opening the can was the first part!”
See, sometimes we look at a loaf of bread. Don’t let RFK Jr. see what’s in your kitchen right now! I mean, make America healthy again! But we love white bread; we love cinnamon rolls! Okay, Ashley’s been trying to get us on wheat bread, but I’m just like Hawaiian rolls all the way! Let’s go cinnamon rolls! I need to lay off those! All right, back to the sermon. We look at this loaf of bread, and we go, “This is great! Paul, this is what I’m coming for! I came to eat; I came to get my harvest!” What we don’t know is this goes through a very intense process before this becomes this! There are steps to this.
Some of you are in the process right now of where you’re hoping one day to be! You’ve got a dream in your heart, Joseph! You’ve got a destiny on your life, but you’re in a process, and it all starts with a seed! You can’t see this, but God sees this! God sees the seeds that no one else sees that you’re sowing when no one else is watching! So, the process of getting to this, if you were to ask a farmer how do I get a good loaf of bread, it starts with seed selection! Seed selection. If you look this up, you would find this: but seed selection requires intentionality!
Then there’s planting—that’s the next step. Planting and growing—biblically, this is true, but farming, this is true! Agriculture! Planting is rigorous work! There’s nothing about this that’s lazy! The thing I loved about that movie “The Forge” is that when this young man started coming alive to his purpose, laziness was broken off, and all of a sudden this powerful work ethic, character, he started blooming! Y’all need to watch that movie “The Forge.” It’s so good! You need to see that “War Room!” Both those movies! But the point is, it requires work! Everybody say “hard work!”
The Harvest Requires Work
So he’s planting; he’s planting, and then it’s growing—that’s the next step—and then harvesting. Now we think harvest is, “Sit back, watch Netflix, and God drops a billion dollars on your lap!” Harvest is waking up early and staying up late! Harvest is getting out in the fields, Ruth and Boaz! It’s working when no one else is working! It’s picking things up, and you’re gathering, and you’re preparing! God has a harvest for you, but it’s going to require work! It’s going to require you going after it!
The team’s been writing songs; they’ve been sowing seeds! But as these songs come out, they’re going to have to go and get the harvest! They’re going to have to get the music out there, bring it to people that need it! There’s a harvest God has for the ministry, but it requires work! And then there’s milling; there’s sifting! Jesus told Peter, “The devil desires to sift you as wheat!” Peter, He says, “Simon! Simon! How the enemy has desired to sift you like wheat!” What did He mean by that? Sifting is a milling! Sifting is a process of purifying the wheat! It’s shaking it to its core!
Jesus was saying the devil is trying to shake you to try to break you and steal your harvest! Some of you have been attacked left and right! It’s not just the weeds that are around you; it’s the sifting! The enemy has tried to sift you! He’s tried to shake you! But can I tell you, the enemy cannot curse what God has blessed! The enemy cannot curse what God has blessed! And then there’s the baking! That’s the heat, that’s the pressure, that’s leaving it in the oven! So, the kids came to me five minutes after I put the cinnamon rolls in. They said, “Is it ready?”
You know, we’re an Instagram generation, a microwave generation! We want it fast! We don’t want to watch the buffering! We’re like, “Why is this taking so long?” But God says let it cook! Let it cook! Somebody say, “Let it cook! Let it cook! Let it cook!” And then those cinnamon rolls came out, and can I tell you, those were the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made! They were incredible! “Dad, you’re a great cook!” Good things take time! Good things take time!
Wait for the Harvest
This parable reminds us to wait for the harvest! Don’t pluck it out too soon! Be careful uprooting yourself from something that’s painful right now! God says, “I’m going to use that! I’m going to use the一大 heat! I’m going to use the pressure! I’m going to use the sifting and the milling and the harvesting and the planting! I’m going to use the weeds too to produce in you a stronger wheat!” If those weeds weren’t around, you wouldn’t have to struggle! There’s something about the struggling of the seed that makes it even stronger!
God’s about to do something in you that no one, the script God’s writing—not even Hollywood—could come up with! This parable reminds us that where there is potential, the enemy marks it as a spot for battle! Where there’s great potential for harvest, the enemy marks the spot for battle. When the enemy sees potential, watch this: the weeds weren’t planted until the wheat was already in the soil! It says while they were sleeping after they had sown good seed, the enemy came in in the darkness because he saw something was growing there!
The reason you’ve had so many attacks on your life since you were a child is because the enemy knows the threat you are to the Kingdom of God! I mean, I almost died in a house fire when I was six years old! I got bit by a boxer dog when I was a kid, just ripped into my leg! So many things! And I go, “Why did I walk through so many struggles and trials?” You go, “Well, that’s life!” Or you could also recognize we’re in a spiritual battle!
The Enemy Targets Potential
Why did the enemy try to kill Moses before he was even two years old? The enemy saw a harvest on Moses’s life and incited Pharaoh to start a genocide to kill every Hebrew baby that was two years and younger! Moses was one of those babies, but his mom hid him! The Kingdom of Heaven is hidden in the parables! Moses was hidden in a basket floating down the river! Crocodiles everywhere! Pharaoh tries to kill him! The crocodiles try to kill him! His own brother later on tries to kill him! God knew! The enemy knows the harvest that’s inside you!
Think about this! In Genesis 3, where God planted the seed in the garden, the enemy had already marked the spot! This snake was slithering in the dark right there next to Adam and Eve! God had planted—the greatest seed was not the seed of the trees or the animals or the birds! The greatest seed in that garden was Adam and Eve! And where was the enemy? The enemy came lurking in as soon as the seed was planted! The enemy knows the harvest that’s on your life! Tell that person next to you, “There’s a harvest in your life! There’s a harvest!” The enemy sees it! The enemy knows it! So he attacks it!
The anointing attracts attacks; the harvest wheat attracts weeds! Weeds come towards the wheat! So the devil comes and he tries to steal! You know what Genesis 3 says? “The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent!” Jesus was the seed of the woman! God’s about to bring a harvest! The enemy is defeated! Church, the enemy is defeated! Get ready for harvest season! The devil overplayed his hand! America, get ready for harvest season! Get ready for harvest season! The wheat is going to grow right next to the weeds!
What the devil can’t destroy, he tries to corrupt! What the devil can’t destruct, he tries to corrupt! So the devil knew that he couldn’t stop the wheat; he couldn’t destruct the wheat, so he corrupts the field! He begins to sow weeds right there! Here’s what I know: the devil can’t kill what God has ordained! The devil couldn’t kill Jesus! The devil couldn’t kill Moses! He tried to, but he rose from the grave! Hell cannot curse what heaven has blessed!
No Weapon Formed Against You
I saw this in the news several weeks ago that there were witches—and I think I shared this in church—that there were witches trying to cast spells on President Trump! And they said there’s some kind of protection on this guy! Our spells aren’t working! Now, you can hate that if you want to, but that was in the news, that was in world news! They were like, “These witches can’t get their spells through!” Can I tell you something right now? Regardless of who you voted for, if you’re a child of God, hell cannot curse what God has blessed!
The devil cannot stop! No demon, no witch, no warlock can stop the calling of God on Paul Dorr, on your life, on Victory Church! You go, “I don’t know about that.” It’s scriptural! Whether you like it or not, it’s in the Bible! Satan cannot! He’ll try! He’ll try everything he can! He’ll try to corrupt you! He’ll try to sow weeds in you! He’ll do something! And by the way, God does not prevent bad things from happening to good people! Now we want him to; we pray for His protection!
But then we’d have to cancel out all the bad things that happened to Peter, Paul, John, and in the Old Testament—all of them! And you go, “Yeah, that’s true.” As much as I want to believe that, no! Here’s what I know: no weapon formed against me will prosper! To live is Christ and to die is gain! Either way, I got the victory through Jesus Christ! Anyone in the room got the victory? No matter what the enemy can try! But in the end, I’ve got the victory!
So he tried his best against Joseph! He even accused Joseph of a crime he didn’t commit! Joseph lands in prison! That’s bad! And then while he’s in prison, trying to convince people he didn’t commit the crime, there are two people in there that have a chance to go talk to the king! He tells them his story, and they forget about him! One of them dies, and one of them lives, but they forget about him! That’s bad! But Joseph was a seed planted even in the dungeon of Egypt knowing that the harvest was growing right next to the weeds!
God Turns It for Good
And the day came where Pharaoh needed someone to interpret a dream, and Joseph had the interpretation of the dream, and it was about a harvest; it was about wheat fields! Isn’t it interesting that God would use a dream about wheat, about a man who was growing among the weeds, through the heart that God’s going to use everything you’ve walked through? That doesn’t mean God caused it; that doesn’t mean God sent it; that doesn’t mean God wanted it to happen! That just means that you’re going to get, like Job, double for the trouble that the devil has put you through!
Like Joseph, what the devil meant for harm—this is what Joseph said in Genesis 50:20. I’m almost done! B, come out here! Genesis 50:20, he says to his brothers, finally, his brothers come—they always come back when you’re thriving! They go, “Hey, you going to feed us? Because we’ve been through some stuff?” Joseph looks at him, not with anger or hostility because he understood, “I need both Judas and I need Peter!” Jesus, when He chose his cabinet, not everybody agreed with His decisions!
I mean, He chose a tax collector that cheated people out of money, Matthew! Then He chose Peter, who was a custom fisherman! Then He chose Judas, that everybody knew was going to betray him! But Jesus understood I need both; I need the weeds and the wheat next to me! I can’t eliminate them; I need friends and enemies! I need sandpaper, and I need the biggest encouragers on my team! If you eliminate everything that’s painful in your life, there’s something connected to this that’s growing you!
The enemy—this is what Joseph said to his brothers; he said, “You intended to harm me to destroy me, but God intended it for good.” Look at that! Verse 20! Genesis 50! He says, “God used it for good! I outgrew the opposition! I outgrew the resistance! I outgrew the naysayers! I outgrew the weeds in my life! I just kept sowing, and I just kept growing! I just kept sowing and I just kept growing!” Some of you in this room, just keep sowing! Just keep growing! Just keep sowing! Just keep growing! The devil hates it when you start thriving! The enemy hates it!
Fruitful in Hard Places
But God says even when David sinned—David sinned with Bathsheba, right? And he loses a baby, the miscarriage. It’s painful! He’s walking through the weeds of his own mistakes! But somewhere after that, the next baby that came was Solomon! Out of David’s dumbest mistake came the wisest king of Israel! Solomon, who then, out of Solomon, would usher in the most prosperous season of Israel! And down the lineage, you can argue all you want about people’s mistakes! God’s going to use it all!
God didn’t want it to happen, but when you surrender it to God, God says, “I can turn that around! I’m not just the God of the good days in your life or the good decisions of your life! I’m not just the God of all the best things! I’m even the God of the valleys! David, I’m even the God of the hard times!” Joseph had two kids in Egypt after all of the weeds he had walked through! He had Manasseh, who he named Manasseh means, “The Lord has caused me to forget the troubles that I’ve walked through! The Lord has made me to forget the pain that I’ve walked through!”
Then he had another child named Ephraim! Ephraim means fruitful! “God has blessed me in a hard place! God has caused me to produce fruit even with weeds all around!” God’s about to make you an Ephraim and a Manasseh in this next season! God’s about to make you fruitful in some hard places! God’s going to cause you to produce fruit where the enemy thought he could steal your harvest!
Then Joseph brings both of them and he places them on Jacob’s lap, on his dad’s lap. He says, “Dad, I want you to bless them!” Watch this! In verse 13, Joseph takes both of them! Genesis 48:13! And he says, “Would you bless both? Let both grow!” In verse 14, Israel reached out his hand—that’s Jacob—his right hand! And he puts it on Ephraim’s head, and he was the younger! And then he crosses his arms! He puts his left hand on Manasseh’s head!
God's Unconventional Blessing
And even though Manasseh was the firstborn, the oldest, this is the way it should be! You’re supposed to bless the oldest, the firstborn! God never does things the way we think He’s supposed to do them! I mean, case in point, example, right here! I didn’t think that I would be the pastor of this church! I’m the youngest in the family! I thought someone else would be chosen to, but God has a way of doing things that are different! God uses the weak things of the world to confound the strong! He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise!
How many are thankful God doesn’t always give you what you deserve? He doesn’t always give you what the world says you deserve! God is so merciful! Anyone thankful for the mercy of God and the unconventional ways of God? I mean, God does things that don’t make sense! Joseph is watching this, and he’s saying, “What are you doing? You’re supposed to do it this way!” But here he is, his arms crossed! He’s blessing the youngest, and he’s blessing the oldest! He’s blessing both differently!
When Joseph saw this in verse 17, he gets angry! He says, “Dad, no, no!” He says, “This is not the right way! He moves his father’s hand! He says in verse 18, 'No, Dad, you’re doing it wrong! Put your hand on the firstborn! Bless the oldest in the family!'” And verse 19, it says his father refused! “No, I know what I’m doing, son! Your dad knows what he’s doing!” Can I tell you, your dad knows what he’s doing? Your Father knows what He’s doing!
Some of us in this room have said, “No, Dad! No Father! Why are we walking through these trials and these troubles? Why did we have that miscarriage? Why did we go through these hard things? Why did it happen this way?” God says, “I didn’t cause it, but I’m going to use it all to bless you! I’m going to use it all to bless your family! There’s a legacy on the other side of the trials and the troubles!” His father says both are going to be blessed! The young will be great, but the older will be great too! They will both become— I want you to stand to your feet all over this place!
God has a way of developing in you a harvest even with weeds all around you! Bloom where you’re planted! Bloom where you’re planted!
Closing Prayer and Altar Call
I just want to pray for you right now. With every head bowed, every eye closed, Lord, I just pray for every person in this room. You know there’s a harvest inside of people. You know there’s a harvest, God, of good days ahead! There’s potential for greater increase, greater abundance! But there’s also been a mark on people! They’ve been walking through just seems like maybe attack after attack, weeds after weeds that they’ve had to sort through! And I hear the Lord saying, “Stop sorting out the weeds and just keep sowing good seed! Keep sowing! Don’t worry about the weeds! Keep sowing your good seed! Don’t worry about the weeds! Keep blooming to the harvest God’s called you to be! Don’t worry about what they say! Don’t worry about what the enemy tries to throw! No weapon formed against you shall prosper! Any tongue that rises against you stands! You are a child of God! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony!”
Lord, I just pray right now, God, for every person in this room that You have called to prosper, to overcome, to succeed, to be the first in their family that sees a breakthrough in certain things, God! To be the one that breaks free of addictions and vices and struggles and depression! Those that have been in fields where it feels like there’s weeds all around them! Those that have been in a season where it feels dry, like that sunflower that just bloomed in that field! Lord, I pray, God, that You would cause them to bloom right here! God, that they would see a harvest on the seeds, the good seeds they’ve been sowing!
With every head bowed, every eye closed, I want to pray for anyone who knows there’s a harvest inside you! You know there are good things inside you! There are great things that are in front of you! You know there’s potential! But you’ve also had to overcome some weeds that have been planted by the enemy! Maybe it’s not even what they say; maybe it’s the weeds of the enemy talking on the inside of your heart and mind. Maybe it’s just been the attacks on your spirit, your heart! You’ve been crushed by some disappointments, some slow seasons, some failures! You’ve had some mistakes you’ve made!
God says, “Don’t let that stop you! I’m going to use it all! David, I’m going to use it all!” God brought the wisest king of Israel through David’s dumbest mistake! God says, “Even your mistakes, I’m not saying that it was good, but God says, 'I can make it good! I can turn it around for good! Don’t let the enemy stop you with shame and regret!'” God says, “I’m going to lift you up! Though a righteous man may fall seven times, he will rise again! Keep getting back up! Mike Tyson, keep getting back up! Keep getting in the ring! Don’t step out! God’s got something good! Don’t give up on the fight!”
With every head bowed, every eye closed, if that’s you, I want you to just raise your hand. I don’t know who I’m preaching to. Maybe it’s just one person today, but if that’s you, just raise your hand. Yes, ma’am! Yes, ma’am! Yes, sir! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yeah! Yeah! How many of you just feel a harvest is coming, but you know a fight comes with it, and the enemy has been trying to fight you for the harvest on your family? If that’s you, raise your hand! You’ve been in the battle for a harvest!
In the Holy Spirit, in the power of the Holy Spirit! If you raised your hand, or you’re here today and you just need to surrender to Jesus, you need to get saved, get right! I want you to leave your seat, come and find a place at this altar; I want to pray for you! It’s harvest time! But that means you’ve got to bloom where you’re planted! You’ve got to fight in the ring for the harvest! The enemy knows it’s a fixed fight; you’ve already won! The enemy knows you can’t defeat him! The enemy knows he can’t curse you! He knows you are blessed! He knows God’s hand is on you! He marked you! But he can’t stop you! He put a target on your head, but he can’t destroy you!
So in Jesus' name, let’s just begin to worship! Worship is our weapon against the corruption of the enemy! Worship is a weapon against the arrows of the enemy that have been shot at you! In Jesus' name! Lord, I know You’re working behind the scenes! You’re working where the enemy sees the weeds! God says there’s wheat coming! There’s harvest coming! I don’t see it, but You’re working even, Jesus! You’re working! In Jesus' name!
Everything you’ve been through, God says I’m going to use everything you’ve been through—the good, the bad, and the ugly! Joseph, and I’m going to turn it around for your good! What the enemy meant to kill you, destroy you, God says My hand is on you! You are blessed! You’re the head and not the tail! You’re above and not beneath! You’re an overcomer! You’ve been forged through the fire, filled with the Holy Spirit! In Jesus' name, He covers you with songs and deliverance!
“Keep light in the dark! My God, that is who You are!” Jesus! Jesus! “Work, keep light in the darkness! My God, that is who You are!” In Jesus' name, He sees you, He knows you, He loves you, He’s for you, He’s not against you! He’s a good God! He’s with you on the hard days! He’s with you in the valleys! You’re a mighty man of God! God will make it work! Proclaim, “Light in the dark! My God, that is who You are!”
Jesus, Jesus! “I surrender to You! Thank You, Jesus, for helping me to bloom right where I’m at! No weeds can stop the harvest that You have for me! Good days, good things are in front of me, and I will overcome! I have the victory! I have resurrection power on the inside of me! So, Satan, you’re defeated! You can’t stop what God has started in me! He’s faithful to finish what He started, and He’s just getting started! He died on the cross, He rose from the grave, and He lives in me! Thank You, Jesus for Your mercy, Your forgiveness! Lord, I repent where I’ve sinned! I receive Your salvation, and I receive Your power to walk in victory! In Jesus' name, amen and amen!”