Harvest, season of transformation & hope

I grew up in the West, the land of cattle ranches and wheat fields and a few corn fields. 

So when you say “harvest” my first mental image is not of pilgrims and vegetables and loaded cornucopias.

I think of hot summer days, big farm tables of food for harvest crews, and conversations about moisture content, combine repairs, and grain elevators.

The harvest timeline in the West meant that we prayed that the hail storms wouldn’t roll across the high plains in late June, we wanted the corn to be “knee high by the 4^th of July,” and we anticipated peaches just before school started.

In Florida where I now live, harvest is on a different timetable. The sweet corn harvest peaks in May, strawberry season makes February delightful, and the peaches in nearby Georgia hit their prime in late spring, early summer.

All of that to say, Harvest is not so much about the calendar as it is about anticipation and culmination and celebration – year round!  Harvest is about cultivating and anticipating.

Harvest is about transformation and hope.

I’m getting ready to speak to a group of women on the west coast of Florida and I’m praying that after our time together, we will have a firm grip on 2 things: Everyone Sows and Everyone Reaps.

Everyone sows.

Everyone. Everyone leaves some kind of influence behind them, either intentionally or by default. It’s so much wiser to be intentional because different seeds mean different harvests – and on top of that – our seeds do multiply.

Everyone Reaps.

Harvest is an inescapable promise. It is certain because God has promised and He always keeps His promise. He is Master of the Harvest. He invented Harvest. He will finish what He began. 

And Harvest is worth the wait. It might not be what we expect. In fact it probably won’t be what we expect. And it probably won’t come when we expect it to come. Remember the story of the Ugly Duckling? The waiting. The questioning. The prejudging. Lots of regrets can accumulate if we get impatient with harvest – be it duck eggs or real life.

We have the sure promise of harvest.

He that goes forth weeping will come again rejoicing.

How do we live with anticipation of coming transformation?

How do we cultivate good Harvest Heart-habits?

How do we live with habits of hope?

Here’s the short answer: 

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked,

for whatever one sows, that will he also reap

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption,

but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

And let us not grow weary of doing good,

for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up

So then, as we have opportunity,

let us do good to everyone,

and especially to those who are of the household of faith

Galatians 6:7-10