Trusting God in the Slow Seasons

There’s this farmer in rural China who spends five long years watering an empty field.

Every single day, he gets up, tends the soil, pulls weeds, and waters it again. Five years, and there’s nothing to show for it.

Neighbors start talking: 

"Really, five years and nothing? Maybe it’s time to quit."

But he keeps at it. Keeps showing up. Keeps believing something is happening beneath the surface.

Then, suddenly, in year five, everything changes. Bamboo shoots up, three feet, ten feet, twenty feet… Within six short weeks, it towers nearly 90 feet tall.

Yes, it took time. It grew 90 feet in five years and six weeks.

However, all that time, hidden beneath the surface, the roots were spreading deep and wide, preparing for rapid, explosive growth.

God often does His deepest work underground.

Maybe you’re in one of those quiet, hidden seasons right now. You’re grinding, praying, putting in the hours, and yet it feels like nothing is happening.

That business idea hasn’t taken off.
The relationship hasn’t healed.
The breakthrough you’re praying for hasn’t come yet.

You might be asking yourself, “Did I miss something? Is it time to quit?”

But those seemingly empty years are often the times when God is building your roots: faith, resilience, character…

Don’t despise the quiet years; they’re never wasted.

Zechariah 4:10 says, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.”

The beginning feels small. It looks insignificant. But God’s celebrating every single day you show up faithfully, even when no one else sees it.

Those quiet seasons are preparation. 

If the bamboo shot up too soon, it would collapse under its own weight. And maybe your dreams would too.

This is the pattern we see throughout Scripture:

Abraham waited 25 years for Isaac.
Moses spent 40 years in the desert before becoming Israel’s deliverer.
Jesus Himself spent 30 quiet years preparing for just three years of public ministry.

Your job isn’t to force the harvest but to keep watering.

This week, commit to keep watering.
Keep believing.
Keep praying, trusting that God is faithful.

As Galatians 6:9 promises, “...for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

So, keep watering. The harvest is coming.