Lessons Learned From Farmers About The Harvest

The other day I took my nieces and nephew out to Lost Nation, Iowa for one of our “adventures “. As we drove along the back roads we saw many fields with combines working on the fields bringing in the harvest. This got me to thinking about the spiritual harvest that Jesus talked about .

Someone had to plant the seeds.
With who and where are you actively sowing and planting seeds to bring someone to Jesus? A harvest doesn’t just happen. You and I have to be intentional about reaching others for Jesus.


Someone maintained the field over time.
 During the spring and summer the farmer was out there daily working doing what needed to be done so that as much as he was responsible for he could have a successful harvest . We maintain a potential spiritual harvest by daily prayer for others, treating others the way we want to be treated, sacrificing our time to help others , etc....

Someone did the work of reaping the harvest.
In God’s kingdom sometimes we reap the harvest of the person we were working on. Many times , we reap the harvest that others worked on. Regardless, we must be ready to do the work of reaping the harvest. The farmers we saw on our trip were out past dark reaping the harvest. This reminded me that reaping the harvest isn’t always on our timetable or when it is comfortable for us. I’m sure that farmer had other things he would have rather been doing rather than sitting on a combine or tractor past dark. But he knew it was time to reap.

 Finally, all these farmers had sown seed with expectancy.
They expected a harvest. They didn’t sow seed with the expectation that nothing would come of it. Are you expecting a harvest with the seed you are sowing in others lives?

In my own life I have been blessed to see this process play out over and over. ( and it’s not solely because of being a pastor. Many times it has been outside of what I was doing at church).
I have sowed seeds with some individuals and it took over 10 years before there was a harvest. Some people I sowed seeds on, but others reaped the harvest. Sometimes, others sowed the seed on a individual, but I reaped the harvest. The point? Always be about working the field and there will be a harvest.

Please , be encouraged . I am someone who had didn’t necessarily have religious classes as a child as others. As a teenager and young adult the only time I was in a church was for a wedding or funeral. I didn’t start following Jesus until I was almost 28. If God can use me to reap a spiritual harvest in other’s lives , he can use you.

I’d like to leave you with some verses in the Bible on harvest:

 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9:36-38‬ ‭

“Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor."”
‭‭John‬ ‭4:34-38‬ ‭

“What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:5-9‬

Troy

How to develop our faith in God

It has been said that life is a series of choices. With that being said, everyday we are given the choice to choose faith or not. Choosing faith is not easy by any means of the imagination. It is a challenge to choose faith , but in this whole following Jesus journey we are on, it is required.

Without it we can’t please God....
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬ ‭

With it we see God move miraculously in our lives. Jesus was always moved by people who exercised faith.

For those who attend church and read their Bibles somewhat regularly it is possible not to unite what we hear and read , with faith. That is how the children of Israel are described . They heard God’s Word, but they didn’t unite it with faith.

“For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:2‬

Even people around Jesus didn’t see some miracles because of not exercising faith.

“And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:58‬ ‭

So how do we develop faith ? We have to get to know the One who we are putting our faith in. I mean we don’t trust someone we don’t know.

How do we get to know God? By reading our Bibles and praying. So often people who don’t regularly read their Bibles or pray tell me they have trouble trusting God . I have to let them know it’s hard at times for those who read and pray regularly, it’s going to be near impossible for someone who doesn’t because you don’t know him.

Reading our Bibles helps us to see what God is like. The more we read the more we see that throughout the Bible,  He remained faithful to what He promised. Though life was difficult at times , He remained faithful.

When we pray we develop our “conversation “ with God. We learn that prayer isn’t just talking , but also learning how to listen.

These two disciplines help us develop our relationship with God. They help us to get to know what God is like so that we can put our trust in Him.

By having relationships with people we have learned who we can trust and who we can’t . We know which person will be on time , we know which person will be late . We know who is reliable, we know who isn’t. We learned these things about people in our lives over time spent with people.

So remember to develop a relationship with God start reading your Bible and praying . As you get to know Him more you will find that it gets easier to trust Him because now you are getting to know who you are putting your trust in. You are getting to know His character, what He is like. As that develops then start trusting Him with areas in your life . You will begin to  learn and see that He is faithful . This will then help to develop that all important important area of faith.

It won’t always be easy to put our faith in a God we can’t see, but at least by doing these disciplines we will have developed a relationship with God . These disciplines done regularly will help to develop our faith. Remember, God wants to show you He is faithful . Because He loves us so much , He wants us to trust Him. Just as you want those who you love to trust you. So He has made a way for us to develop our trust/ faith in Him.

Troy