TD Jakes - Timing Is Everything
In the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Jesus teaches that the enemy sows weeds among the good wheat while men sleep, but the master commands to let both grow together until harvest to avoid damaging the wheat. The preacher draws key lessons: good seed doesn't exempt us from evil, we must produce fruit amid weeds, the enemy targets potential with calamity, and true faith means patiently waiting on God rather than impulsively pulling up the weeds ourselves.
The Parable: Enemy Sows Weeds While Men Sleep
In the story, we have a certain man who had his servants sow good seed in the field. And while they slept—and I used to preach against them sleeping until I realized that everybody has to go to sleep sometimes. It is impossible for you to stay up around the clock. The enemy comes in while they are asleep and plants the weeds or the tares while they're sleeping. In the story, they don't wake up the next morning and know the enemy has been there, because the enemy has planted it in such a way that when they wake up in the morning, they do not notice any change.
Notice the timing. It was not the next day. But while they did not notice it, the evil or weeds were sown in the wheat. Anybody who understands this understands that there are important truths to be learned.
Lesson One: Good Does Not Exempt Us from Bad
Lesson number one: it is naive to think that the planting of good exempts us from the presence of bad. It is naive to think that the planting of good exempts us from the presence of bad. This is important for us to understand. Just because God allows wheat to be planted doesn't mean that weeds are restricted. Are you hearing what I'm saying? The kingdom is like this. The kingdom is like this.
So, we have to be able to produce in the presence of weeds. For all of you who are waiting for all the weeds to be gone before you produce the wheat, you are not digging deep enough into this text, because this text declares there will never be a day that you can be wheatful without being weedful. God allows the wheat to be planted; that doesn't mean that the weeds are restricted.
Wheat Requires Intentional Planting
Wheat is planted with great intentionality. In other words, wheat is not going to grow in this ground if it is not planted. It is not a natural result of the climate, the soil, the rain, and the sunshine; it has to be planted. Nobody succeeds accidentally. Nobody wins a marathon accidentally. Nobody wins the Olympics accidentally. Nobody gets a master's degree accidentally. Nobody gets a diploma accidentally. Nobody passes a GED accidentally. Nobody gets a promotion accidentally.
Just because you pray doesn't mean you win. This is work. This is sweat. This is labor because this is agriculture, and agriculture means that the intention of sowing the seed is that I might have wheat, and the intention of having wheat is that I might have bread. From seed to wheat to bread is going to take time. I can't plant seed today and eat bread tonight, because timing is involved.
If I am going to be seedful, I have to be patient for the seed to grow first down and then up. Some of you are standing over your life talking about, "I don't see nothing. I keep sowing and I don't see nothing." The seed grows down before it grows up. You're not supposed to see it, but just because you don't see it doesn't mean that the roots are not growing in the soil.
And if you wait a little while, it is going to go from seed to wheat, and from wheat to bread, and there is work in between every stage. The seed is work. The wheat is work. The bread is work. You cannot eat any better than you work. Nudge somebody and say, "Your blessing is gonna be work." When you get through dancing and shouting about the promise of God, understand that you're gonna have to break some sweat. You're gonna have to put some effort in it.
You're gonna have to grind the wheat. You're gonna have to pulverize it. You can't just bring the wheat in and make bread until you crush it. It's got to be crushed. It's got to be made into a usable form. So it doesn't mean that God hasn't blessed you with the bread; it could mean that you haven't put in the work to go from seed to wheat to bread.
Look at somebody and tell them, "I'm going from seed, to wheat, to bread. I might not be ready for consumption right now, but I'm in process, and I'm going somewhere. Don't look down at me because I'm not bread. I may be in the wheat stage, I may be in the seed stage, but I am on my way to a place that God has destined for me." Whoever I'm talking to this morning, God says, hang on in there. I'm not finished with you yet. I'm taking you through the process, and at the right time, I'm gonna take you from seed to wheat to bread.
Being Intentional and Different
The reason it is planted is because it is not indigenous to the land. The word "agriculture" is rooted in the word "cult." Cult means you're not orthodox; it means you're not natural, you're not normal. "Agra" means land. That means that wheat is not normal to the land. You can't just wish for it; you have to make it happen. Agriculture, culture. I'm gonna make this happen.
It is not indigenous; you don't get it just because you want it. You gotta plant it. You gotta be intentional about it. You gotta work on it. You gotta labor for it. Because you were not raised in an environment that agrees with your dream, that doesn't mean you can't have it; it means that you've got to be cultural enough to be a cult against your neighborhood.
I'm the only one in my family. I'm the only one in my neighborhood. I'm the only one in my city. I'm the only one in my house. And they don't like me at the family reunion, and they don't invite me back to the parties, and my friends have changed because I am cultish to them. I broke the rule. I got out. Everybody who got out, make some noise.
You got to be willing to be different. You've got to be willing to be controversial. You've got to be willing to be talked about. The greatest problem in our community right now is that we are so sensitive. We're more worried about being liked than we are being fruitful. You're praying to God about what they said, and she said, and he said; and God said, unless you deny mother, father, sister, brother, and even deny yourself, you cannot be my disciple.
Lesson Two: Enemy Targets Potential with Calamity
Whenever there is great potential for harvest, the enemy will always earmark the spot with calamity. Wherever the enemy sees potential, he will always earmark it with calamity. I earmarked a restaurant as a favorite so I could find it easily. Wherever the enemy sees potential, he earmarks it.
Notice the sequence. It was the wheat being planted that caused them to plant the weed. They didn't plant the weed and then plant the wheat; the wheat attracts the weed so that the enemy can earmark the spot. The devil knew God was gonna bless you. Hell knew God was going to use you. Hell knew that God had a purpose for your life. He earmarked it with calamity.
So while men slept, he came, planting in the dark, sowing in the soil. I don't get to see him plant it, and I don't get to see what he planted. He is covered by the darkness of night, and his craftiness is hidden under the soil. When they wake up that morning, they see no difference.
The Underground Battle
When the men woke up that morning, they didn't know. When they were watering the wheat, they were watering the weeds. And the infrastructure has now become a system underground before the wheat comes up, before the wedding, before the degree, before the call to ministry. The system—you're fighting a system. You're not fighting a devil; you're fighting a system.
The war is underground. The tangle is underground. You're trying to fight on top of the soil, but the system is underground. You're trying to fight in the flesh, but the system is in the spirit. It's in the spirit world.
Lesson Three: Corruption vs. Destruction
Corruption and destruction are two different things. He could not destroy the wheat, so all he could do was corrupt the environment in which the wheat was coming. He couldn't stop you from coming up; he just wanted to make it hard for you.
If it was wheat when it went in the ground, it'll be wheat when it comes out of the ground. If it was a weed when it went in the ground, it'll be a weed when it comes out of the ground. So if the weeds didn't kill the wheat, why did he plant it?
The temptation is not in the substance of the wheat and the weed, but the decision of how you handle it. The master said, "An enemy hath done this." They said, "Should we go and pull up the weeds?" And he said, "No, leave it alone."
The master knew that there was a system underground, that even if you pull only the weeds, there was such a tangling in the roots that if you pull up the weeds, you will kill the wheat. Now I see what the devil is trying to get me to do. He's trying to get me to take matters into my own hands and try to solve the problem, but the Holy Ghost told me to tell you, leave it alone.
You're uncomfortable, but leave it alone. You're frustrated, but leave it alone. You're aggravated, but leave it alone. You're afraid, but leave it alone. You're tired of it, but leave it alone. That's the setup. The devil wants you to do something. God said you got to have enough faith to leave it alone.
Lesson Four: The Wisdom of Waiting
The wisdom of waiting is the opiate of faith, especially since time is so expensive to spend. The trick is to wait it out. The master says leave it alone, lest while trying to fix it, you make it worse. It's a setup.
Weed cannot change wheat, so why did he plant it? To trick you into this impatience where you feel like you're running out of time and you got to do something now. Your faith is expressed through your silence. This is not your battle.
The most expensive seed you can plant is time. If you sow money, you're gonna get some more money, but if you plant time, you'll never have it again. The enemy has plagued you with a spirit of urgency that makes you want to take matters into your own hands.
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." It's not that you're wrong; it's that the timing isn't right.