Sow and Reap: The Hard Pill to Swallow
Recently I was reading a rather spiritually edifying book called “Simple Truth Too” written by one of the wisest and truly spirited people I know, Apostle Wendy Connor. The pages of the book are filled with revelations, one in particular that knocked me out of my seat! You know what I mean- the kind of God given revelation that makes you gulp really hard and take a good long hard look in the mirror.
This revelation was the Law of Sow and Reap.
Galatians 6:7 | New King James Version
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Allow me to share a personal anecdote with you. Many months ago, I was tasked with completing a very important task within a team of people. Unfortunately, during that time I was at a point where I was grievously spiritually distracted. As a result, I did not complete the task in a timely manner and totally dropped the ball. Such was the case with other responsibilities I was given. This created extra work on my other team members and they had the right to be upset with my actions. Since then, I have been learning from my mistakes and have had improvement. However, more recently, I made an unintentional mistake on a task within this same team. I was upset about how they might feel about/respond to the mistake given my previous actions. It was then that I went to the Lord in prayer and this was His response:
“Sow and Reap.”
Yep. That was quite humbling. Let’s have a moment of silence for all of our egos.
You see, what Apostle Wendy Connor was communicating in her book and what the Lord was telling me through prayer was that: you can reap a bad harvest based on your own seeds even though you have been forgiven and covered in the blood.
The Lord is merciful and forgiving, but that does not mean that there are no consequences to our actions. He is not a God that coddles. In my case, I planted seeds of laziness and was harvesting the results of said laziness. If you planted seeds of thievery, you have to realize that people might clutch their purses around you a little tighter. If you planted seeds of lies, you have to realize that people may second guess your words. If you are mean to people, you have to realize that people may not want to hang out with you. And it is no one’s fault, but your own. You might wanna get some ointment for that sting.
At some point in time, this has been all of us. If this is news to you like it was to me, let this be a learning moment (and prayerfully, a moment that will make you rethink your actions). There is a season for everything as painful as it might feel at the moment. If you’re in one of these painful seasons, just open your heart to the Lord and allow Him to deal with you. After all, Father corrects us because He loves us.
Hebrews 12:5-7 | New King James Version
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
Let us pray…
Father God,
We come before you giving you thanks for your grace, mercy, and love. We praise you for your corrections and humble ourselves before you. We open our hearts to receive from you. We ask you to open our eyes to what we cannot see and open our ears to what we cannot hear. We repent from planting unfruitful seeds and open ourselves so that this season of learning is one that transforms us. We glorify you Father because you are a God of purpose that uses our difficulties and the things that may be hard to hear, to edify us all to the more. This way, by your grace, we are positioned to live kingdom lives that are pleasing to you. In your mighty name we pray.
Amen