There are principles relating to the fulfillment of God’s promises in the Old Testament that carry over into our current experience. The principles of a fulfilled promise remain the same today because they come from the heart of God.

The prophet Haggai spoke a word from the Lord to His people, “I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you” (Haggai 2:19). There were two important words in what the Lord spoke – “not yet.” The fulfillment of God’s promises is based on His timing, not our impatience.  

While the seed of promise is still in the barn, we need to shift our thinking from having just a seed lying dormant in the barn to believing in the coming harvest no matter how long the process takes. 

It was the promised harvest of their crops that the Lord referenced. The fulfillment of God’s promise is what the people were to focus on. That act of faith would direct how they would speak about their lives and the future. A static seed was not enough. It had to be planted and watered while waiting in faith for what the Lord had promised.

To experience the fruit of a promise requires that we believe in something we cannot yet see. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

That kind of faith reveals a trust in God that He will bring a promised seed into the fullness of its purpose. It is a trust empowered by our assurance that if we plant a promise in faith and not lose hope, the Lord will cause the seed to sprout in due time and manifest its fruit in our lives. 

Our job is to plant the promise in our lives and water the seed with words of hope and expectation. The Lord will be faithful to produce what He promised. It is in that unwavering faith that we will see the Lord turn a simple seed into a bountiful harvest.