“The Harvest is plentiful. But the workers are few.”
Matthew 9:37 (NIV)
When I go into my backyard nowadays, I see my overgrown garden. One that is filled with weeds and overgrown plants, including cucumbers that have turned yellow and overwhelming overgrowth. But it wasn’t always this way.
A few months back I first carefully researched and planned what I would plant and where I would plant it. I visualized all of the great crops my plants would produce and all of the fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables I would have. I pictured abundance of produce!
For a little while I kept up with my garden. I tended to it by pruning it, watering it and using fertilizer and insect repellent to ensure that I would have the healthiest plants.
What area in your life do you visualize abundance in? Do you picture abundance, in friends, finances or even your health?
Things are going good, until suddenly the “excitement of expectation” wares off and you are left to do the hard work of either gardening or dieting or exercising or working or whatever else you need to do but don’t feel like doing it.
The soul of the lazy person has strong desires but gets nothing, but the soul of the one who does his best gets more than he needs. Proverbs 13:4
We tend to give up once the novelty is gone and the excitement has worn off. We still want the reward but not the work.
I decided one day that I didn’t need to water or tend to the garden. Then I decided the same thing the next day, and by the time I went on vacation and came back, the plants were too high, the cucumbers needed picking and I needed to pluck the weeds from the garden. I became overwhelmed and it seemed easier to let it go than to deal with it. I just ignored it and pretended it wasn’t a problem and that it wasn’t there. I knew that I needed to tend to my garden, but I decided I didn’t want to put that effort into it anymore.
We do that with our physical bodies. We do that with our spiritual bodies.
Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest. Proverbs 20:4
If we want to reap the benefits of the harvest, we must be willing to do the work.
We can’t will it to happen overnight. We need to be intentional with our efforts.
I can’t enjoy bountiful produce from my garden without putting in the work. You can’t enjoy the benefits of abundant living without putting in the work.
There is so much potential that awaits us. It is there for us to grasp, but we stop putting in the work because it is hard and isn’t producing results fast enough.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
We can experience the plentiful harvest if we are willing to put in the work.
What is an area of your life that are you willing to start putting in the work to reap the harvest has He has waiting for you?
Blessings friends!
Stephanie Miller
Photo Credit: image created via wordswag
Well, if you are reading this on August 15, we should be in flight back to the U.S. Thinking back on the many trips we’ve taken during the past 7 years, I couldn’t help but to ponder the scripture above that I shared with you last Thursday. Especially in light of my cowardice concerning the ‘jungle”, I saw something I had not noticed before:
Here we see Jesus giving His disciples specific instructions. God was sovereign enough not to send them out blindly but to provide guidance and direction. As we go throughout our daily lives choosing to live each moment on mission for Christ, praise God for the guidance and instruction He provides us, and pray that He will continue to make us sensitive to His leading and direct our every step.