Is it harvest time yet? There is nothing like harvest time but that’s a crazy question to be asking when planting is just underway! But isn’t that the point of planting? The harvest?
I grew up on a farm and often heard my grandpa forecast a crop failure at least 13 times before he ever planted a seed. It never made much sense to me since he always planted the seed anyway and there usually was a good crop. When I got a bit older, I asked him why he always made that forecast and then still planted. He said, “You’ll figure that out.”
He then told me this story. Sam was a large crop farmer and was found sitting on a pallet of seed corn that had recently been delivered to his machine shed. He sat on his seed looking out at the freshly tilled soil. Days later, Sam was found sitting on the pallet of seed corn again as the rain came gently falling and the soil soaked up every drop. Months later, Sam was found again sitting on the seed corn looking out over his field, which he had just tilled again but now wearing a heavy jacket. As he looked out over his field he said, “I guess I should have planted; it looks like it could have been a good harvest.”
I scratched my head in confusion. Why didn’t he plant? Finally, grandpa said, “It’s the same reason I forecast a crop failure: fear. Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding; in everything acknowledge him and he will make your rows straight. Sam had seen several droughts and he didn’t dare to plant. I have the same fear every year but I know if I don’t plant — I don’t harvest. I trust God will provide weather or not.”
Fear keeps us from doing other types of planting too. Planting the word of God and sharing the word of God is sometimes scary. But if we don’t plant, we don’t get to see the harvest; the reason for planting. Don’t allow fear to keep you from planting.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” — Proverbs 3:5-6
The Trust Project
