Today I am writing from Simpson College.  I am sitting at their Exploring Faith Communities event.  Only a few students have come by so far. However, it has got me thinking.  Sharing Christ and reaching new people is not always an easy or simple thing to do.  It takes effort.  It takes effort over and over.  Sometimes that effort yields immediate results.  Sometimes that effort is a lot like planting seeds.  All you see is the work you did, but there is no obvious result. I wonder… are we willing to do the work that doesn’t yield obvious results?  Does it discourage us?  Or do we acknowledge that it is part of the process?

Farmers know that it is all part of the process.  Sowing is sometimes needed.  There is no getting around it.  A farmer will not resent the process.  He will not reject the prospect of needing to plant seeds and cultivate soil.  He won’t just quit in May because the ground is hard or the weeds seem to be winning.  No, he will work because he knows the process.

Do we?  Do we who believe in the Lord of the harvest understand the process of the harvest?  Do we know that tireless effort that appears to have no result is exactly what is needed?  Do we understand that we must plant and cultivate and weed before we see the growth?  Do we give up in the May or early June of our relationships and never get to August or September?  What will we miss if we do? How will we ever see the harvest unless we do the work?  Never give up!  Be willing to do what is needed even if it is hard.

Something to think about,

Pastor John