Winter is coming, the season is almost over. And the harvest will be soon.

As I watch the season coming to a close, all of the evidence is there. The days become pale, trees sway in the wind grasping to its last leaf, gardens get thin and tired. Even the air smells different and the sunshine gets weary.

Winter is coming, the season's almost over.

In each of my seasons I see blunders, conquering feats, blessed quiet, and some increase. Every garden gets a little growth, you would think. Even with the best of intentions and love, sometimes that garden just will not thrive. I thought I could farm this wee bit of land that was given to me. I tried to raise the most beautiful garden the best I knew how, I prayed for guidance, I hoped for the right amount of rain. To my utter bewilderment, my wee farm will not thrive.

Then, it's time to get my hands into the soil again. Winter is coming, the season is almost over.

One day my wee bit of land was taken away. The more I tried to till and fertilize, the worse it got. I thought I was a failure. I believed that all the love I ever had just would not thrive in my wee farm, or anywhere else.  I cried at the disbelief of it all. And one day I realized it was never mine, I was only borrowing it until mine was ready.

Inconsolable. Still prideful. But winter is coming, the season is almost over.

I miss that bit of land. I loved it more than it loved me. I tried hard, I really did. But one day, when I would have never expected it, I was given another wee farm to till. It was different than the first, it seemed much harder to work and love. I barely liked it. So I asked the Giver of the land, "Why me? What can I do? This land is hard and barren." All the Giver told me to do is to keep tilling, keep planting, and there will be increase.

Even so, winter is coming, the season is almost over. And the harvest will be soon.

As hard as this soil is, I continue to till and furrow the rows, to plant the seed, and wait for rain. I'm thankful the Giver of this land loves me so much that He trusts me with this wee bit of a farm. It is mine for a time, the seasons are almost over, and the harvest is very soon.

Don't lose heart, do not be grieved. Till your land, make your furrows, plant the seed. And the harvest will be great.

v35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. v36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. v37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. v38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38

Praying the Distance

I'm watching a church service this morning and it's time to pray for the sick. I remember standing in for members of our families for healing all the time. Somehow I kept  it up, though I saw no results with my human eyes. Maybe their healing is on the other side, maybe they will get the miracle they hope for.

But what the church doesn't see anymore are miracle healings; people stacked up at the altar praying through, waiting, expecting, sometimes for HOURS and DAYS. I've read books and stories of these miracles; blind eyes opened, deaf ears hear, a shorter limb lengthened, even the dead brought back to life.

Why doesn't this happen anymore?

Prayer is like running. When you start running, it's not so bad. You start to huff and puff a bit, time goes very slow, after a while your lungs feel like concrete and that searing pain in your side is crippling. Most people stop running. They just stand there knowing they have to get home, at the very least. Some people start walking instead. But very few run through the pain.

The pain is there to make us stop, turn around, go back, go no further. But runners know that when the pain starts, it's just the beginning of a long, long run that has no pain, only results, because the pain does stop.

We don't 'see' results when we pray because no one goes the distance, prays through the hard part with expectation. Yes, we petition the Lord, but we do not run the distance with prayer. Imagine the results, the MIRACLES, if we did!

Faith. Have faith, pray much, expect more!

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." John 14:12

It May be Summer, but Winter's coming.

It's nearly harvest time. Fruit trees are heavy with their sweet burden, soon the fields will be orange with pumpkins and other Autumn goodness. Crickets and cicadas are wonderfully loud. The days are just a bit shorter. God is working, He is changing things bringing our attention to the bounty to come.

Is Winter coming? Yes. But why are we so disappointed of its coming? Have you ever noticed the bright blue of the winter sky? And when every leaf has fallen to protect the soil for next spring, the browns and bronze and copper all glinting against the blue sky is glorious! Add a puff of an occasional white cloud to bring it all together. Yes, I can smell the snow coming.

Yet the gloominess will overcome now and then, the snow will fall. But sprinkle a little of the Plan of God on it and you'll see the beauty I see. He is always working, He is always there. Even the snug blanket that God puts on the earth does not keep Him from us!

With God, everything does work together with a well thought out and orchestrated plan that we cannot imagine or understand. But there is comfort and joy in knowing He is still there, even in the Winter of our days.

Yes, I'll miss the green grass and warm summer rain. I may even lament it a bit. But knowing that a new bounty is a grasp away renews my Faith and my resolve.

I'll miss you, Summer, but the Autumn of my days are here and I am looking forward to the Winter.

"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." John 4:35