The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. – Psalm 85:12
While the weather outside these days might suggest otherwise.... It is the season of harvest! Sometimes the growing season seems very long. Months go by, and at times the growth of a crop seems almost imperceptible. In midsummer, the calendar seems full of weeks when storms or disease might threaten a crop, and harvest time seems far away. Still, at other times in our lives the moment for harvest can seem to rush quickly toward us and we rush to be ready in time.
The same is true in our living before the Lord. While we occasionally have seasons of rapid growth in our faith, at other times the harvest seems far away, with many obsta- cles and challenges to trip us up. Storms of anger sweep over us, and we speak harsh words to a spouse or a child. We wilt in the heat and drought of financial pressures, and we are tempted to cut corners as stewards of the resources God has given. The floods of chaos and crisis can seem to overwhelm us.
When the harvest seems so far off, we need to hear again God’s promise. Yes, our bro- kenness and sin are a reality we need to deal with. But God has also shown us God’s own unfailing love and also God’s abundant and eternal life in Christ. While we might feel dried up, broken to bits, or overwhelmed, God is faithful, is All-Surpassing, and cannot be overcome!
The psalmist invites us to “listen to what God the Lord says” and to hear God’s promise of love, renewal, resurrection, and peace! Jesus reconciles us and restores us to a right relationship! We are people of the empty tomb! In Christ, the harvest is guaranteed! And here we are in the season of harvest! (Hard to realize that with all this “white stuff” on the ground!) The fields are ripe, and the abundance and blessing of God is and are evident. While, in some seasons of life the fruit of our lives still seems far off, often we must be ready to act and harvest the opportunities of the Commonwealth of Christ. They are “at hand” as Jesus says.
Through the growing season, certain plants become mature and their fruit ripe at different times. We need to be daily checking the “fields of harvest” in our lives. The workplace, our neighborhood, the classroom, our community....in each of these places and more – God is breaking God’s Kingdom forth! Are we ready to harvest the oppor- tunity to touch a heart, change a life, build up and increase the community of faith for the Cause of Christ?
“The Lord will indeed give [us] what is good.” In due time, our lives will yield a harvest in Christ.
Be God’s, Pastor Jim