Friday, November 23, 2012

Friday Thought -- November 23, 2012


Good Morning Friends,

“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.  Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.  Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.  He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.” (Psalm 126:3-6)

Can you see the picture of the farmer in this Psalm.  It’s been a very hard year.  Each week the stockpile of food has grown smaller and smaller until there is almost nothing left.  But in the barn there is a special stockpile of grain.  It’s the seed for the next crop.  It’s some of the best of the grain that was produced in the last harvest.  Now it is decision time:  the family is hungry, the seed can be used for food, or the seed can be sown in hope of another harvest?

He’s a farmer, so he knows what he has to do.  Despite his hunger and the hunger of his family, he must take the seed, the good food, and plant it in the soil and wait for it to produce even more food.  He carries the bag of seed on his back and walks through the fields and as he sows, tears stream down his cheeks.  He knows his choice will bring temporary pain to his family.

They make it through till harvest time and those tears with which the seed was sown have been changed to laughter!  The seed has produced a bountiful crop that will feed the family, not for a day or a week, but for a year!

Sometimes, temporary pain is required to gain long-term joy.  That’s the lesson of the farmer.  It’s the lesson of life.

His, by Grace,

Steve

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