There are seasons in my walk with God that feel full of life and momentum. Prayers are answered quickly, doors open easily, and I can see God moving clearly. And then there are other seasons. Seasons where the ground feels dry, my prayers feel quiet, and nothing seems to be changing.

If you have ever felt this way, too, we are all in good company. Scripture is full of people who learned to trust God not only on the mountaintops but in the long, difficult valleys. Elijah was one of those people.

James reminds us that Elijah was as human as we are. He was not a superhero. He was not spiritually invincible. He had fears, doubts, emotions, and weaknesses. Yet God worked powerfully through him. Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and God responded. For three and a half years, the land stayed dry, cracked, and barren.

Then Elijah prayed again. The sky opened. Rain fell. The earth responded with a harvest.

But here is the part that impacts me deeply. The moment the rain fell, crops began to grow. This means someone had been planting seeds in faith even during the drought. Someone kept sowing even when the ground looked hopeless and the sky showed no sign of rain.

This is what faith looks like in my own life. Faith is not just believing in God when things are good. Faith is sowing in obedience when things look bleak. It is praying when I have prayed a hundred times already. It is showing up when I feel nothing. It is trusting that God is doing something beneath the surface long before I ever see it.

Another scripture encourages my heart in this truth. Galatians 6:9 encourages us when it says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

God’s timing is rarely my timing. But His timing is always the right timing. When it feels like nothing is happening outwardly, God may be doing His greatest work inwardly. When the soil of my situation looks dry, He may be preparing me for a rain that I am not ready for yet.

This is why I must keep sowing.

Even when my prayers feel unanswered.

Even when I feel discouraged.

Even when everything looks the same day after day.

Even when I feel exhausted.

Even when I feel alone in the field.

When the rain comes, and scripture assures me that it will, the harvest will be evidence of every act of faith I planted in the drought. When God opens the windows of heaven, I want to have seeds already in the ground. Seeds of obedience. Seeds of worship. Seeds of generosity. Seeds of faith. Seeds of quiet perseverance.

Today, I remind myself to keep sowing. God sees every seed I plant. Nothing I do in faith is wasted. My season of rain is coming, and when it comes, the harvest will reveal how present God was in every dry place.