Good Morning Sunshine! Keep Digging, The Treasure Is Beneath The Surface. So, Don’t Stop Just Because You Can’t See It Yet!

2 Chronicles 15:7 (NKJV) ~ “But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”

Joshua 6:20 (NKJV) ~ “So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”

There comes a point in every season of obedience when you begin to wonder how much longer the process will take. You have prayed, worked, waited, trusted, and kept your hands on the shovel, but the ground still seems hard. You know what God said, and somewhere deep within your heart you still believe Him, yet you cannot deny that you expected to see more by now. This is often where discouragement tries to enter, not because you have stopped believing in God, but because you are tired of looking at ground that appears unchanged.

That is why the words of 2 Chronicles 15:7 are so powerful; “Be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.” These words were spoken during the reign of King Asa. Judah had experienced spiritual instability, conflict, and seasons of turning away from God. The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, who went to Asa with a message of encouragement and warning. He reminded the king that when the people sought the Lord, they found Him. Then he encouraged Asa not to lose courage in the work of spiritual restoration.

God was not telling Asa that there would be no resistance. He was telling him that resistance was not a reason to stop. Asa still had work to do. There were idols to remove, altars to repair, people to lead, and spiritual order to restore. In the middle of that assignment came God’s encouragement: do not let your hands become weak. In other words, do not allow what you have encountered along the way to make you release what God placed into your hands.

Joshua experienced this truth differently at Jericho. Israel had crossed the Jordan and entered the land God promised them, but Jericho stood directly in their path. God had promised them the land, yet a wall stood between the promise and possession. His instructions were unusual. They were to march around the city once each day for six days. On the seventh day, they were to circle it seven times, the priests were to sound the trumpets, and the people were to shout.

Imagine being there after the first lap. Nothing happened. The second day came, and the walls still looked exactly the same. By the fourth or fifth day, someone could easily have wondered, “What difference is this making?” There were no visible cracks to encourage them. There was no gradual leaning of the wall to assure them that their obedience was working. From their perspective, nothing appeared to change until suddenly everything changed.

The walls did not fall because Israel finally became strong enough to push them over. They fell because God’s people remained obedient long enough to reach the moment God had appointed for breakthrough. There is something in that for you today. You do not always get to see evidence that your obedience is working while you are obeying. Sometimes you simply have to keep walking because God told you to walk.

There is another story about a farmer and what happened; Beneath the Dry Ground! This farmer had purchased a piece of property that had been neglected for years. The land was beautiful, but there was one major problem; there was no visible water source nearby. An older man familiar with the area told him that underground water ran beneath part of the property. The farmer trusted his advice and began digging a well.

He dug through the first layer of soil and found nothing. He continued into harder ground, but still there was no water. Days passed, his hands became sore, and the pile of dirt beside the hole grew larger. What made the process especially frustrating was that the deeper he went, the less evidence he seemed to have that water was actually there. One afternoon, exhausted and discouraged, the farmer decided he had gone far enough. He climbed out of the hole and told the older man, “I think you were wrong. There is nothing down there.”

The older man walked to the edge, reached down, picked up some of the soil, and squeezed it between his fingers. Then he smiled. “Feel this.” The farmer touched it. The soil was cool and slightly damp. “You’ve been looking for water,” the older man said, “but you missed the evidence that you’re getting closer.” The farmer had been so focused on what had not happened that he failed to recognize what was changing. He picked up his shovel again. A short distance deeper, water began to seep through the ground. Soon the bottom of the hole filled, and the well that he had almost abandoned became the source that sustained his entire farm. The water had been there the whole time. He just could not see it from the surface.

Perhaps today you have been so focused on what has not happened that you have overlooked what God has already changed. The complete answer may not have arrived, but you are stronger than you were when you started. The entire door may not have opened, but God has given you new connections. The promise may not have fully manifested, but your discernment has increased. Your prayer life has deepened. Your character has matured. Your priorities have shifted. Your dependence upon God has become stronger. Those things may not be the final treasure, but they could be the damp soil telling you, “Keep digging. Something is happening beneath the surface.”

God does some of His deepest work where nobody can see it. Seeds germinate underground. Roots develop in darkness. Diamonds form under pressure. Gold is extracted from hidden places. Oil must be reached beneath layers of earth. Wells must be dug before water can rise. Even the tallest buildings depend upon foundations buried beneath them. We celebrate what eventually becomes visible, but God understands the necessity of what happens underneath.

The same is true of your life. You may be asking God for visible fruit while He is developing invisible roots. You may be praying for elevation while He is strengthening your foundation. You may be asking Him to expose the treasure while He is developing the character required to carry it. You may be ready for the door to open, but God may still be preparing what will sustain you after you walk through it.

Do not despise what God is doing beneath the surface. Sometimes the hidden work is the most important work. Think about Jericho again. Israel could not see what was happening while they marched. Scripture does not tell us that a crack appeared after lap three or that stones began falling after lap five. They simply kept walking. Had they required visible evidence after every lap, they might never have reached the seventh day. Their obedience could not be based upon what the wall looked like. It had to be based upon what God had said. That is mature faith. Mature faith does not need constant visible confirmation to remain obedient. It learns to say, “God spoke, so I will continue until He tells me otherwise.”

This is especially important because the closer you get to something, the more intense discouragement can sometimes become. Not because every difficult season guarantees that breakthrough is tomorrow, but because perseverance becomes increasingly important when you have already invested prayer, obedience, growth, and time into an assignment God has not released you from. You do not want frustration to make a decision that should have been made through discernment.

Before you abandon the field, ask God. Before you throw away the shovel, ask God. Before you decide the promise is dead, ask God. “Lord, are You finished with this, or am I simply frustrated with the process?” Those are two very different things. If God says the season is complete, you can move forward in peace. But if He says, “Keep digging,” then you need enough faith to remain where He placed you. Sometimes continuing does not mean doing more. It means remaining faithful. It may mean praying without forcing. It may mean waiting without manipulating. It may mean serving without seeking recognition. It may mean continuing to prepare while trusting God with the opportunity. You do not have to manufacture a breakthrough to prove that you have faith. You simply have to remain available and obedient.

Second Chronicles tells you, “Do not let your hands be weak.” That does not mean you will never feel tired. It means you refuse to allow weariness to determine whether you remain faithful. God can strengthen tired hands. He can restore disappointed hearts. He can renew weary minds. He can give fresh vision when you have stared at the same wall for so long that you have forgotten what is waiting on the other side. Maybe today you need to look again. Not at the wall. Not at the dirt. Not at how long you have been digging. Look at God. Remember who gave you the assignment. Remember who made the promise. Remember who has sustained you this far. The God who kept you through the first lap is still God on the sixth. The God who strengthened you for the first foot of dirt is still present when the hole becomes deep.

Your confidence cannot be in the shovel. The shovel is only a tool. Your confidence cannot be in your strength. Your strength has limits. Your confidence must remain in the God who knows exactly what is beneath the ground. He knows where the water is. He knows where the treasure is. He knows when the wall will fall. He knows how deep the foundation must be. And He knows exactly how much grace you need to complete what He has entrusted to you.

So today, pay close attention to the damp soil. Look for the small evidence of God’s work. Celebrate the progress that does not yet look like the finished promise. Thank Him for the strength you did not have six months ago. Thank Him for the wisdom you gained in the waiting. Thank Him for the doors He protected you from entering prematurely. Thank Him for the roots that grew while you thought nothing was happening. Then put your hands back on the shovel. You do not have to dig frantically. You do not have to compete with anyone else’s field. You do not have to prove anything. Just remain faithful.

Take the next step God gives you. Pray, the next prayer. Write, the next page. Make the next wise decision. Serve where He placed you. Keep your heart clean. Keep your spirit sensitive. Keep listening. You may discover that the season you were tempted to call “nothing is happening” was actually the season when God was preparing everything beneath the surface. And when the water finally rises, when the wall finally falls, when the seed finally breaks through, you will understand why God kept whispering, “Keep digging. The treasure is closer than you think.”

Let’s Pray,

Father, here I am again. I come before You today just as I am, without pretending that every part of this journey has been easy. You know me better than I know myself. You know the places where I am strong, but You also know the places where I am tired. You know the prayers I have prayed repeatedly, the things I have waited on longer than I expected, and the promises I still carry quietly in my heart. You know the moments when I have smiled in front of others while privately wondering, “Lord, how much longer?” You know every time I picked up my shovel when I really wanted to put it down. Thank You for meeting me right here, not with condemnation, but with grace, strength, and the reminder that I do not have to walk this journey alone. Father, sometimes I get tired of digging. Sometimes I get tired of waiting. Sometimes I get tired of being strong, believing, hoping, and looking for evidence that something is changing. There are places in my life where I thought I would be farther along by now. There are prayers I thought would have been answered by now. There are doors I thought would have opened by now. There are situations I thought would have changed by now. And if I am completely transparent with You, sometimes the waiting has made me question whether I heard You correctly. Yet even in my questions, I choose to come back to You. I would rather wrestle with my questions in Your presence than make decisions outside of Your will. Forgive me, Father, for the times I have measured Your faithfulness by my timeline. Forgive me when I have looked at someone else’s harvest and questioned what was happening in my own field. Forgive me for comparing my chapter to someone else’s ending and allowing what You are doing for them to make me impatient with what You are doing in me. Clean my heart from jealousy, frustration, competition, resentment, and disappointment. Teach me to celebrate what You are doing in the lives of others without believing that their blessing means You have forgotten me. Their harvest is evidence that You are still God, and I trust that You know exactly what You are doing in my life. Lord, forgive me for the moments when I assumed nothing was happening simply because I could not see anything. Forgive me for forgetting that You specialize in hidden work. You develop babies in hidden places. You grow roots beneath the soil. You form diamonds beneath pressure. You place oil beneath the ground and water beneath the earth. You have always been comfortable working where human eyes cannot see. Help me become comfortable trusting You there. Teach me to stop demanding visible evidence before I give You continued obedience. Father, open my eyes to the damp soil in my own life. Show me the little signs I have overlooked because I was waiting for something bigger. Show me how much You have already changed me. Show me where my thinking has matured, where my prayer life has deepened, where my discernment has sharpened, where my boundaries have strengthened, and where my faith has become steadier. Remind me of the things that once broke me that no longer have the same power over me. Remind me of the places where I used to react but now I pray. Remind me of the situations where I once panicked but now I trust. Let me recognize that sometimes I am part of the miracle You have been producing beneath the surface. Father, when I look into the hole I have been digging and see only dirt, help me remember that You can see deeper than I can. You know exactly where the water is. You know exactly where the treasure is. You know how many layers remain between me and what You have prepared. I do not want to quit three feet away. I do not want to walk away one lap before the wall falls. I do not want frustration to cause me to abandon something that obedience brought me this far to receive. If You have not released me from it, Father, give me grace to remain faithful to it. But Lord, I also ask for discernment. I do not want stubbornness disguised as perseverance. If I am digging somewhere You never told me to dig, redirect me. If I am holding onto something You have already told me to release, give me courage to let it go. If a season has ended, help me recognize the ending without feeling like I failed. If You are closing a door, keep me from exhausting myself trying to force it back open. I want Your will more than I want my way. Teach me the difference between a difficult assignment and a completed assignment, between resistance I should push through and redirection I should obey. Father, strengthen my hands. Some days this shovel feels heavier than others. Some days I have plenty of faith, and other days I need You to help me believe again. When my hands become weak, put Your strength in them. When my heart becomes discouraged, breathe hope into it. When my mind begins rehearsing everything that could go wrong, remind me of everything You have already brought me through. When fear tells me to stop, remind me of Your faithfulness. When impatience tells me to run ahead, teach me to wait. When weariness tells me to walk away, teach me to rest in You before making a decision. Lord, I give You every unanswered prayer I am carrying today. I give You the names I continue bringing before You. I give You my family. I give You my dreams. I give You my calling. I give You my work, my ministry, my finances, my relationships, my future, and the desires I have not shared with anyone else. I give You the things I understand and the things that still confuse me. I give You the promises that excite me and the promises that scare me because they seem bigger than my ability. I lay all of them before You and say, “Father, Your will be done.” There are things I have been trying to figure out that I need to release into Your hands. I have spent too much time asking when, how, where, and who. Today I exchange my questions for trust. I may not know when, but I know You are faithful. I may not know how, but I know You are able. I may not know who You will use, but I know You already have provision prepared. I may not know where this road will ultimately lead, but I know You promised to direct my path. Let knowing You become enough when I do not know the details. Holy Spirit, protect me from discouragement in this next stretch of the journey. Guard my ears from voices that would cause me to abandon what God told me to build. Guard my eyes from comparison. Guard my heart from offense. Guard my mouth from speaking against the very thing I have been praying for. When I am frustrated, help me watch my words. I do not want my mouth declaring defeat while my spirit is asking You for victory. Let my words agree with Your Word, even while I am waiting. Lord Jesus, give me Jericho faith. Teach me how to take another lap when the wall still looks the same. Help me worship while I walk. Help me praise before the wall falls. Help me remain obedient when I cannot see cracks forming. Keep me from needing applause, confirmation, or immediate results before I continue. If You said walk, I will walk. If You said wait, I will wait. If You said build, I will build. If You said write, I will write. If You said serve, I will serve. If You said dig, then with Your strength, I will keep digging. Father, prepare me for the treasure as much as You are preparing the treasure for me. I do not want to arrive at the blessing without the character necessary to carry it. If I need deeper roots, deepen me. If I need greater humility, humble me. If I need more discipline, develop me. If I need stronger boundaries, teach me. If I need greater wisdom, give it generously. If there are attitudes, habits, relationships, fears, or mindsets that cannot go where You are taking me, remove them. Do whatever work You need to do within me so that when the water rises, when the door opens, when the wall falls, and when the treasure is revealed, I will have the spiritual maturity to steward it well. And Father, when breakthrough comes, don’t let me forget the digging season. Don’t let me forget the mornings when all I had was faith. Don’t let me forget the tears, the waiting, the prayers, the quiet obedience, or the people You used to encourage me. Keep me humble when the treasure becomes visible. Let my testimony always point back to You. May I be able to say, “Nobody but God carried me through that ground. Nobody but God strengthened my hands. Nobody but God kept my heart when I wanted to quit.” Today, I put my hands back on the shovel. Not because I have all the answers, but because I trust the One who does. Not because I feel strong every moment, but because Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. Not because I can already see the treasure, but because I believe You when You say my labor in You is not in vain. I will keep praying. I will keep trusting. I will keep listening. I will keep obeying. I will keep showing up. And when I become tired, I will come back to You for strength instead of abandoning the field. Father, if I am closer than I think, give me grace for the remaining distance. If another layer must be removed, strengthen me to remove it. If another lap must be walked, give me strength for the lap. If another season must be endured, give me grace for the season. Whatever remains between where I am and where You are taking me, I trust You to sustain me through it. Thank You for reminding me that hidden does not mean forgotten, delayed does not mean denied, and difficult does not mean impossible. Thank You that while I am digging, You are working. While I am waiting, You are preparing. While I am praying, You are moving in places I cannot see. And while I am holding the shovel, You are holding me. So, I leave this prayer with renewed confidence. My hands may have been tired, but they are not empty. My journey may have been long, but it is not wasted. The ground may have been hard, but You are still faithful. I will keep my hands on the shovel until You tell me the assignment is complete. I trust You, Father. I trust Your hands. I trust Your heart. I trust Your timing. I trust Your process. And I trust that whatever You have buried beneath this season will be revealed according to Your perfect will.  In the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nugget ~ Do not let what you cannot see convince you that God is not working. Sometimes the damp soil is the only evidence you get before the water breaks through. Keep your hands on the shovel, the treasure may be closer than you think.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…