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Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. Psalms 126:5
Growing up, my parents would always have a large garden to help feed our large family on a limited budget. I never enjoyed planting the garden for several reasons.
First of all, it was tedious. Spending hours in the hot sun putting seeds in the ground, making sure they were spaced according to my mother’s expectations and then covering them with the correct amount of earth wasn’t my idea of a great way to spend a spring day after a long, cold winter!
Secondly, we never really knew how well the garden would do. Summers in Wisconsin are anything but predicable. Sometimes they were hot and dry. Other times they were hot and wet. I didn’t always see the point!
Thirdly, I realized that planting seeds wasn’t the end of the story. Planting seeds also meant that in coming weeks there would be weeding to be done, cultivating to be accomplished and sometimes, irrigation to be implemented.
Lastly, I wasn’t looking forward to the process of canning and freezing these vegetables, which at our house was a family affair and usually took many hours away from some serious play time. Summers were short, time was valuable!
My problem was that. I wasn’t able to see the end result of all my seed planting. I wasn’t able to look ahead to my enjoyment of going out into the garden and picking a pod from the peas, those sweet morsels of enjoyment!
I couldn’t see my love for picking cherry tomatoes and snacking on them through the day.
I couldn’t see the joy of having fresh sweet corn and other vegetables, or the tastiness of BLT sandwiches made with tomatoes from our garden on mom’s homemade bread. I lost focus on the harvest.
Is that how it is with you? To often we focus on the current situation and the struggle ahead without realizing the joy of the harvest.
Marriage can be hard, yet those who have stuck it out in the hard times will tell you that those hard times ended up being the very thing that cemented the relationship.
Those who’ve gone through business or financial failure will tell you how much they appreciated the lessons learned and the resulting joy they live in now.
The drought of relationships gone bad can seem hopeless, yet those times of drought often are God’s call to draw closer to him, not people. To sense his love and faithfulness.
The analogy breaks down though. Sometimes the seeds we plant result in a harvest we never see. Kindnesses to strangers. Patience with those who let us down time and again. The pain of watching out kids make choices that go against the things we taught them.
But keep on planting seeds! Even though you may not see a harvest in your lifetime, the Father who brings the increase, will reward you in the life ahead because of your faithful seed planting in Jesus’ name.
Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you. Hosea 10:12
The tiny seed is an amazing thing. When we plant our gardens we cultivate the soil and make it as easy as possible for the plant to grow. But in nature, that isn’t the case. A tiny seed floats to the ground. It falls into the smallest of crevices in the rock. Soon tiny fingers of roots emerge from the seed and take root in the rock.
Over the years, in all sorts of weather, the roots from that tiny seed continue to grow harder and stronger. The rock is no match for the tenacity of the roots. Soon, after years of struggle, a tree grows out of the sheer cliff. No cultivation. No special tools. Success comes from persistent pushing against seemingly impossible odds.
It happens over and over again in nature. Life springs from the most unlikely places all because of one small seed dropped in an unlikely spot. Sometimes the wind carries it to its resting place. Other times it hitches a ride with some unsuspecting carrier to a spot perhaps miles from its origin.
Each of us has an opportunity to be seed carriers along the path we call life. Sometimes we have opportunities to throw out those seeds intentionally. Other times our ‘seeds’ may be quite by accident.
A seed of encouragement scattered in someone’s life may result in hope. A seed of forgiveness fosters peace. A seed of appreciation brings the fruit of joy. A seed of understanding can make relief bloom. The seed of patience grows confidence.
What seeds can you spread today? Cultivation isn’t required, only willingness. Expertise isn’t needed only love, because passion beats technique every time. When Jesus was asked the most important commandment, he gave two and both were summed up in one word: love.
The seeds of love you spread will break the driest soil, the hardest rock, the soul that has all but given up on life. It may be something as simple as a smile or a ‘thank you’. It may be something as hard as saying ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I forgive you.’ Perhaps it will be something as compassionate as, ‘I don’t agree with you, but I understand and accept you.’
Sow love today in the lives of those you come in contact with. Don’t worry about whether you thing the soil is ready. Ours is not to cause growth. Ours is to plant seeds. Seeds of love. Seeds of forgiveness. Seeds of grace. The seeds of Christ’s love that you sow today may take time to sprout, but nothing can stop them from growing.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for the love you continue to show me even when I’m hardened and rebellious. I pray that you would empower me to sow seeds of your love and forgiveness to everyone I come in contact with today. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 