This past summer, our family spent a lot of time at Faith Bible Camp, attending or serving in a variety of different capacities. We finished the season exhausted, energy tanks empty, but hearts full. But no matter how busy, tiring, and stressful the camp season may be, (and it is!), it never ceases to encourage us to be part of the Lord’s work in people’s lives through summer camp ministry. This has been our family’s summer pattern pretty much all of our lives. Even before Andrew and I were married, I was working at other summer camps in other provinces, wherever I was living.
But if I’m being honest, this very good work doesn’t always feel so life-giving. Sometimes it feels mostly draining. It’s demanding and exhausting, and often frustrating, (as the work of seed planting always is!), and what if you don’t see any fruit of all that labour? What about when you’ve poured all of your prayers, all of your energy, all of your patience, and goodwill into that one tough kid, and nothing changes? The weekends and, you never got that “heart-to-heart,” never saw any indication that your words and actions made any difference? Never got to pray “the sinner’s prayer” with even a single one of those little sinners? And what if this has been your experience more often than not, over all the years and decades that you’ve been pouring yourself into the Lord’s work, into ministry, into people?
Galatians 6:9 says: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Always Working, Never Reaping
But what if you feel like you’re forever sowing, but never reaping? What if this promised harvest never seems to arrive? Or worse, you see other laborers all around you praising God for a harvest of souls, leading people to Christ, while you watch from the sidelines?
This is a burden I carried for years. So many of my friends, coming to staff meetings at camp or youth group, excited about the kid, or classmate, or stranger at the bus stop they “led to Christ this week,” yet I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve had this joy. Was I doing something wrong? Am I just not a very good evangelist? It was a very discouraging mystery.
What If God’s Given You A Different Job?
A few years ago, as I was complaining in prayer, “Lord, how come I’m not ‘reaping a harvest?’” He showed me a picture of myself, kneeling in the dirt, slowly planting little seeds in little wells with my thumb and forefinger, gently patting the dirt overtop, and watering them with a little watering can. Slow, careful work. Tiny seeds. But I didn’t mind.
“You’re a seed planter,” He said. “If you don’t plant the seeds, there won’t be anything to reap.”
Over the following months and years, my focus started shifting. I started noticing and paying attention to the countless opportunities I had to speak words of encouragement into the lives of younger believers, and so many opportunities to answer sincere questions of non-believing friends. I began to realize that I was actually pretty good at helping people grow. I might not be the most effective at evangelism, but it turns out I have a pretty big heart for discipleship!
Harvest time is only one part of a very complex and involved process, and it’s the last step. A harvest can’t happen unless a whole lot of other small but essential tasks happen first.
Paul even wrote about this to the believers in Corinth! In 1 Corinthians 3, he writes:
“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (verses 5-9).
I couldn’t believe I had never noticed this before, but there it was! We all have a different role in the process. If you are in a season of fatigue or discouragement because you don’t see any fruits of your labor, here are 4 things to keep in mind:
4 Things to keep in mind when the harvest seems delayed
The Harvest is a process
This work is a process in which we all take part, in different ways, at different stages, and in different seasons. Often it’s slow, and hard. It’s ok to feel tired from time to time, but don’t give up! The patience and perseverance it takes to keep on plowing, planting, watering, is just as much for our own growth as it is for the mission field, and God will reward faithful obedience!
The Harvest Involves Many Parts
The whole body is involved! The hands can’t gather the wheat without the arms and shoulders. The body can’t even get to the field without the legs and feet! Your part is important, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem to you.
The Harvest Is Promised
God promises that we will reap a harvest “at the proper time,” if we “do not give up.” Only God knows when that will be! Not all crops grow at the same rate. Some grow quickly, but some take years! Some seeds planted decades ago are only just beginning to grow now. And some harvest results we might not get to see until we stand with him in eternity. Not giving up means trusting God that our labor is not in vain, regardless of whether or not we see measurable results with our own eyes.
The Harvest Is To God’s Glory
The work of growing is Christ’s work, not ours. God involves us in the process of planting, watering/nurturing, and harvesting, but we have no part in the growing. That is all Him. We get to participate in the joy of the harvest, but the credit for it’s very existence, the fact that it grew at all, is to God’s glory, not ours! If we keep our eyes on results, we will certainly get discouraged. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus, it’s actually a relief! He is the one responsible for the result of my obedience, not me! This is very welcome news for a mere mortal like me, who can do very little apart from him. All I am responsible for is my continued obedience, and the result is up to Him!
Conclusion
If you are in a season of sowing and you’re feeling tired or discouraged, take a few minutes and sit quietly with the Lord. Ask Him to help you keep your eyes on Him, and not on results. Take a few deep breaths and feel the relief of knowing that you will be rewarded for your faithful obedience, not for what you can produce. You will not be held responsible for any failed crops! Name out loud the ways that this work, this ministry that God has given you, has refined you and conformed you more to the image of Jesus. Thank Him, that what this process has produced in you, (not by you), can never be taken away.
Take heart, my friend, He promised, one day the harvest will indeed come!