1 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV)
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been
making it grow.
Here I am an Old Stem of Wheat among all the other stems
in the field of life, as well as the tares and thorns.
I am now an old stem ready to be harvested. Maybe now, maybe a little later, but I am
white to the harvest.
I will stand or wait for a few more days maybe of “My
Season.”
Will the seeds from my stem be fruitful, with good fruit
bearing seeds to replenish and refurbish the fields when they are ready for the
planting again? Or, will they be like
the chaff and blown away before their time with the storms and winds of
life? Or beat down and give up with the
downpours of rain and strives that they will each face as time goes on to the
harvest? But this is not for me to know
I guess, it is for the Master of the fields. I can only wait and HOPE.
My head is bowed now and I am bent some as I stand here
from all the beatings and struggles I have faced. Struggles to keep alive and fruitful during
my seasons. Yes! I have faced many of them now.
But I am also sure they are not over yet. Not till I am taken by the “Reaper” to my
place.
Spring and the planting...my seed among all the
others. I sprouted and grew. I became a stem,
a blade of wheat in a “harvest field of life.”
The grain that was planted died and I was left there with its roots and
I grew.
My start may not have been so good. I was weak, and small, and struggled hard to
keep alive. But I was nurtured, and fed,
and watered, with love and care. I was planted on good ground. Yes, I grew among the tares and weeds and
thorns! Yes, I sometimes was overrun
with the cares of this life. Yes! I fell as the waters overflowed on me and the
downpours of rains and the strong winds beat me down But I was sheltered
Sometimes it seemed I would not make it.
I was fed and watered with love and care and with strong determination I
made it through all those things and He nourished me with gentle spring
showers. My ground was well fertilized and my roots planted deep. So I made it to a strong, tall healthy plant.
Then summer came with it came the hot, dry summer days of
heat from the blazing unshadowed hours of standing. Of surviving when I thought I would surely
faint and give up. But somehow just in
time HE was there with the refreshing summer showers and cool nights. Yes!
Sometimes it was terrible! Sometimes
it was almost more than this old stem wanted to take, but HE always made a way
for me. You see sometimes there was a
tall strong weed that grew and seemed to almost overtake my place in the field,
but HE used it to shelter me and give me shade in my worst times of need and
then when it was the tallest and the strongest the sun beat it down because it
never got roots as well and deep as I did.
And it didn't survive. It was not
a grain of wheat from my family but it was an outcast that He caused to be a
blessing to me. A tare planted by the
enemy to break me down, to destroy me when it tried to steal my strength. But
He made my roots deep and strong and I survived. I grew on and bore fruit.
Sure there have been many days and still are sometimes
when I think that I shall not make it another day. When I think I will just bow my head over and
lay down and give up. But He makes a way
and I stand here. Bent and bowed
somewhat, but I am alive, and waiting my turn in the harvest field.
Though my head may be bent and though my stem is bowed
somewhat I stand here with my face upturned towards the SON praising Him for
his blessings, Praising Him for his goodness.
Praising HIM for his MERCY and LOVE and PEACE and, with JOY, I wait for
the “HARVEST.”
Spring and Summer is now over and in the fall I stand and
sometimes I quiver and shake as the chilly winds and frost begin to chill my
strong spirit. {Funny how much of the hardest things we have to bear are brought
to us by the falling over and struggles of our closest family. Yes that seems to bother me the most for it
wears my heart out with the aches it causes me to have as I see them struggle
to try to survive for their own selves and for HIM.} But He knows how much of this is good for me
and how long to make me wait. So I wait
along with the other grains that are stems of my family...yes they are near me,
a part of my being. But yet—they are
individuals. They will either stand or
fall. They will either bear or be
unfruitful. They will be judged along
with me when our time comes for the HARVEST. I can only encourage them by my
actions, by my presence and how I react to such things as we all seem to have
come across our paths in this HARVEST FIELD of LIFE.
I can only stand in praise and hope that I did not cause
them to inherit any illnesses or diseases or afflictions from my touching their
lives. Yes! I touched many...Yes, I watched many. Many
watched and touched me as we stood there with the daily flow of life taking it
toll on all of us. And I still stand and
wait, and as I do I try hard to keep my face lifted up or else bow my head with
praise and thanks to HIM who has been there and helped me survive all this
time. I try to keep and make a good
testimony of my life and show HIS presence is what took me to where I am. His love, His mercy, His grace, His strength
and His nurturing. And I hope as I wait
that all the others that I have been privileged to share this HARVEST FIELD of
LIFE with makes it to the good and faithful HARVEST door. And are kept; not to
be thrown aside and burned with the tares, the weeds, the thorns that were
planted by the enemy.
Yes, I am just an old blade or stem of wheat from life’s
Harvest Fields and I am waiting, hopeful, wanting to shine with HIS glory when
the “reapers of the harvest” come for me.
I hope to shine with the Glory of “an Old Ready to the Harvest field stem ...the PLANTING of the LORD.
Dear Lord, We pray that we would grow where You have
planted us. In all things help us bring honor to Your name in all seasons of
our live. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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