.
A Gentle Spirit
.
Jeanne Stewart, Oklahoma
.
Harvest
of Blessing
As summer begins to change seasons, the southern breeze
brushes the early morning atmosphere with a faint hint of autumn. Northern
flows of cooler, moist air move down from distant mountains, bringing the
beginning signs of early fall.
Indian Summer - is a term the plains people use to describe climate
changes that provide more time to bring in the last crop of the growing season.
The frigid winds of winter will soon cease all harvest as the soil prepares for
its long season of rest.
“The harvest is finished
and the summer is gone, the people cry, yet we are not saved.” (Jeremiah 8:20
NLT)
The Story
Allow me to share a
story the Lord gave me in the night during a time of sleeplessness and prayer.
There once lived a farmer who gained control of the farms
adjoining to his land by utilizing some rather sneaky methods. As he acquired
more and more territory, he became less and less busy working his fields during
planting and harvest season.
A neighboring farmer to the north refused to be forced
out by the tactics of this rich, unscrupulous farmer. The clever neighbor
observed how the hired workers on this rich farmer’s fields always waited too
long at the end of summer for the final harvesting. He thus devised an equally
devious scheme to confiscate the valuable crops from the rich land owner
without him realizing his loss.
While gathering his own crops, the northern farmer
quietly began adding more and more of the rich farmer’s crops and ground into
his own harvest. The upper fields of the rich farmer’s land were slowly
becoming the southern part of the neighboring farmer’s holdings.
Through many years of harvesting, the deception
continued.
Fruits of the Earth
“A poor person’s farm
may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away.” (Proverbs 13:23 NLT)
The story speaks of a small farm and a large land owner.
One improves his land by hard work, and the other upon injustice of power. Both
grow in acreage by dishonest gain.
A great estate can be ruined by the lack of honest
management and carelessness. The first farmer over-extended himself, not caring
whom he harmed, keeping more servants than he could afford. At the same time,
his northern neighbor took advantage of the slumbering hired help that would
not harvest the crops in a timely manner.
Seize the Harvest
“So let’s not get tired
of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of
blessing if we don’t give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NLT)
So what can we learn from this story?
Our God made seasons of life for all His creation,
whether it is the trees, the fields, the animals or His own, made in His image.
We all carry within us the life first initiated by God.
We must see that it is deep within our spirit we too have
a time of harvest. The Father’s work in us does not sleep – in spiritual times
of barrenness we must rest in Him until the time of harvest comes forth in its
time. All the while, He purifies our faith, strengthens our character,
conserves our energy and prepares us for our eternal future.
The enemy will try to seize
the fruit of the earth, which in the spiritual – is souls. However, we must seize the harvest the enemy desires to steal, through
prayer and compassion for the lost of our world.
The cold and sluggish days of winter come to hide us in
our season of rest as the future hope that is within us will move into our next
season of life with a freshness of new birth. May we not give up so close to
the end as we reap the harvest of
blessings.
