Reap the Harvest

I am currently doing Beth Moore's bible study "Stepping Up" at my church, and I was so moved by today's homework that I had to share.

Today's lesson focused on the second half of Psalm 126:5-6 "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."


In my study bible under these passages this is what it reads, "God's ability to restore life is beyond our understanding. Forests burn down and are able to grow back. Broken bones heal. Even grief is not a permanent condition. Our tears can be seeds that will grow into a harvest of joy because God is able to bring good out of tragedy. When burdened by sorrow, know that your time of grief will end and that you will again find joy. We must be patient as we wait. God's great harvest of joy is coming."


Last week in my bible study group I shared about a friend of a friend who was facing the awful possibility of losing her newborn son. Well, sadly, over the weekend, her terrible "worst case scenario" came true. I won't pretend to know where this dear lady and her family are today. Most assuredly, in the deepest pit of grief imaginable. I, too, know the pain of losing a child, my unborn child, but a child nonetheless, and so I grieve with them. I pray that in their grief they will hear God's voice. I pray that though the "songs of joy" will be far-off for them, that they believe they will again be singing.


I am so glad that God promises that we will again find joy.

Another point brought out in Beth's lesson is how we actually have to "sow" the seed by applying it to our reality. She shared of visiting a poor country on a mission trip, and a local man sharing with her and her husband that "One of the most frustrating things is that in villages where they receive seed, they often eat the seed rather than planting it and bringing forth the harvest."

They are hungry, so they fill themselves up with something that will be short-lived, rather than have patience for the harvest to grow.


I cannot tell you how many times I have eaten the seed in my own life. I expect such quick "fills" for my problems. What has become so apparent for me in this lesson, is that sometimes it takes patience. (I should say, not sometimes, but all the times) It takes watering, tending to and fertilizing the seed, and then waiting for it to grow. In my own times of grief, I wanted a quick fix. How many times I would read scripture and expect an immediate reprieve from my sadness, or my lonliness, or my depression, whatever it might be. I put these time restrictions on God's ability to do as He promised. I cannot imagine how many times I have missed my great harvest, because I gave up on the seed too soon.

Beth Moore writes, "God repeatedly says that a harvest is sown, not eaten as seed. We have to get down on our knees in the hardship of our circumstances and apply God's Word to the most difficult places, believing God will bring a harvest."


No matter what situation we face, we have to do the work...we cannot just throw our hands up and say, forget it, it's not happening fast enough. To reap, we must sow. Even in grief...the most difficult time in my life was when I lost my child, and the hardest work I ever did, was at that time, trying to find my way out. I couldn't have done the work without God's help. It was a daily, sometimes hourly, struggle, but pretty soon, I saw growth.


Dear Lord,

Tonight, I pray for a special prayer for Deborah and her family. I pray that You will be a God of comfort to them in this time of grief. I also pray that You will be a God who keeps His promises. And I know this to be true. The promise to bring them one day out of this unimaginable pain and despair, to a place of harvest. If there's one thing I can say of the difficult circumstances I have faced in my life, it's that there has been growth in my walk with You. No matter how many times in my life I have had difficult circumstances, seemingly impossible, heart-wrenching circumstances, You have shown me that I will make it with Your help. You have taught me that something good would come. I am thankful for Your promise that I will one day reap the harvest. Help me Lord to sow Your Word, not to swallow it. Help me to put into practice Your teachings. For then, and only then, will I reap with songs of joy.

I love You, Amen.