"Man sows the seed in the earth when he forms a good intention in his heart (...); and the seed germinates and grows without him realizing it, because, although he cannot yet perceive its growth, virtue, once conceived, moves toward perfection, and the earth bears fruit on its own, because, with the help of grace, the soul of man rises spontaneously to do good. But the earth first produces the wheat as grass, then the ear, and finally the ear of wheat."8 The interior life needs time; it grows and matures like wheat in the field.
Fidelity to the impulses that the Lord wants to give us is also manifested in avoiding discouragement because of our faults and impatience when we see that it is still difficult, perhaps, to carry out prayer in depth, to uproot a defect, or to remember the Lord more often while working. The farmer is patient: he does not dig up the seed or abandon the field because he does not find the expected fruit in a time he judges sufficient to harvest it; farmers know well that they must work and wait, counting on frost and sunny days; they know that the seed is ripening without them knowing how, and that the time for harvest will come. "Grace usually acts like nature: gradually. We cannot really anticipate the action of grace, but, as far as we are concerned, we must prepare the ground and cooperate when God grants it to us.
HCD