"Gramma, why do you think I see things and know things I didn't before? Is it because I'm getting older?" One of our littles recently had her sixth birthday and, apparently, has begun to realize middle age is only a breath away. Time to get moving on that retirement plan, I suppose. This young lady is seeing growth in her life. That is exciting to her!
Early in the season, we planted some flower seeds. They were sort of old, so I wasn't sure we'd have any success. We didn't. Crusty egg cartons sat on our deck for weeks. We gave them every opportunity. We watered and made sure the soil was warm. Nothing happened. No growth. Although it seemed we'd done all the right things, the seeds never sprouted into anything. Our vegetable plants were a different story, however. The children love spotting the "ripe ones!" and hang their shoulders in frustration when I tell them, "This one needs to wait a bit." Strangely enough, they don't hold the same excitement for the gravy-making (Yes, we make gravy, not sauce in this house.), or the relish, or the salsa, or the jelly -- whatever we decide to make, they might take it or leave it. But that enthusiasm for growth and harvest never seems to wane. I believe that is intentional. I believe God has placed that desire for growth -- progress in our lives and our relationships -- in each of us for a reason. And I believe the joy of the harvest is something we all long to celebrate.
God's people, Israel, were an agricultural people. Exodus 23:16, talks about the feast of harvest (or the feast of weeks, later called "Pentecost" in the Greek), and the feast of ingathering (aka the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot). Two of three feasts God commanded each year were celebrations of harvest -- God's provision to His people, and their praise for it. The culmination of weeks of anticipation and dedication to the labor, met with gratitude for God's faithfulness to yield what was promised. Their longing for growth fulfilled, God's people were encouraged -- no, commanded, to par-T!
Throughout the Scriptures, we are told to wait on the Lord. Wait, but not become stagnant. Let's go back to those seeds we planted for just a minute. We waited. We didn't abandon watching for those adorable little green shoots after the first few days. We didn't stop watering until we were sure the seeds were too old to produce. We didn't rest in our labor despite my not having much confidence from the outset. We didn't become stagnant in our faith that seeds produce flowers. And though our seeds were not healthy (I could take that a whole new direction, but I'm trying to stick with this analogy 😊), we were growing. Our work did not prove fruitful in quite the way we had expected, but our patience improved; we gained knowledge about just how long Vinca seeds will or will not survive in a brown paper bag in the basement; we learned that one failure is not the end of the world. Had we ceased waiting and working the moment we failed to see results, we would have gained nothing and had no progress to celebrate.
The Bible assures our God is faithful and never changes. What He has promised to supply, He will supply. What He has promised to do, He will do. No dead seeds there. He guarantees a harvest. It may not be quite the crop we expect, but if we are committed to the work and obedient to His plan we will have a harvest to celebrate!
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