Why You Can’t Afford to Do “Nothing.”

“…the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to CULTIVATE the ground.”

~ Genesis 2:5 (NASB)

Rain won’t fall where leaders won’t lead.

Whether you’re talking about your ministry, marriage or money the following truth remains in effect.

Anything you refuse to cultivate will:

1. Refuse to grow.
2. Grow out of control.
3. Eventually die.

Regardless of how gifted or talented you are, without continually developing and investing in yourself as a leader, you’ll never experience lasting growth in any part of your life or leadership.

God is still looking for “Cultivators.”

He’s looking for Kingdom minded action takers who will capture, cast, and implement His vision for raising up a new generation of leaders both at home and in the church. He’s raising up radical rain makers who will implement a biblical structure for life and ministry which when established, will result in inspiration, salvation, transformation, and multiplication.

Without this kind of cultivating leadership in place you’ll rarely ever experience heavens rain.

Oh, you may get a sprinkle from time to time. Jesus Himself declared that the Father “…sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” so you may have the occasional “flash in the pan” and encounter some momentary breakthroughs in your life and leadership, but if you’re not willing to cultivate your God ordained purpose then you’ll never be able to sustain personal growth for a significant length of time.

[shareable cite=”@PastorTHall”]If you’re not willing to cultivate your God ordained purpose, you’ll never be able to sustain personal growth for a significant length of time.[/shareable]

You’ll simply find yourself going through life waiting for your “sprinkle” rather than doing what you need to do to make it rain.

What It Means to Cultivate.

The word “CULTIVATE” is defined as:

Preparing something for use, Fostering growth, or improving something by labor, care, or study.

In other words, the goal of cultivating anything is to create an environment that can sustain healthy life.

In Genesis 2:5 the bible tells us that God hadn’t sent any rain upon the earth and that “…there was no man to cultivate the ground.” Did you catch that? He said that there was no “man” to create an environment where things could grow strong and healthy and so He waited for a “cultivator” before He sent any rain.

Now, you may be wondering the same thing I did,

“Why didn’t God just do it Himself?”

I mean with all due respect, He did just finish creating the entire universe, what would one more step in the 6 day creation story really be to, God?

He could have simply set everything on cruise control and divinely engineered the earth to be “self cultivating.” But He didn’t. Instead, God chose to do something better, much better. God decided that rather than create a fully automated life, He would give every single human being that would ever be born something called “purpose.”

And while God does promise to supply “all of our needs” (aka “send the rain”) it’s still up to you and I to cultivate the ground that He gives us.

For Example:

• God may have blessed you with a husband or wife, but it’s up to you to cultivate an environment where your marriage can thrive and grow healthy.

• He may have blessed you with children, but it’s up to you to cultivate your own potential as a parent and create an atmosphere in your home where your children will flourish.

• He may have provided you with a business to manage, church to Pastor, or ministry team to lead, but it’s up to you to cultivate an environment where the vision and mission of that organization can grow strong and healthy.

No Cultivator = No Rain

Far too often we’re tempted to blame a lack of growth in any area of our lives on a lack of rain.

• We blame our financial woes on “a lack of money.”
• We blame our relationship woes on “a lack of intimacy.”
• We blame our ministry woes on “a lack of commitment from the people.”

But the reality is that in the Kingdom of God, the cultivator always comes before the rain.

No Cultivator (Leader) = No Rain.

So if you’re praying, but not cultivating then you may discover that while you’re waiting on God, He is waiting on you. Don’t get me wrong, prayer should be where we start, but not where we finish.

Let me close with a question:

If God were getting ready to send His rain of increase into your life, but He first wanted to stop by your house to make sure that everything is in order, would He find a cultivator?

Would He find a man or woman that’s willing to till, toil, and work the marriage, ministry, or mission that they keep asking God to bless?

Or would He find someone who’s content to just keep complaining about the weather?

Welcome to CULTIVATE.