Romans 4:18 | Thoughts of Grace

Sow in Tears, Reap in Joy

Psalms 126:6
He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him.

A poor farmer has had a very bad harvest:
a very scanty portion of grain and
food has been gathered from the earth.
The seed time is now come,
and is very unpromising.
Out of the famine a little seed
has been saved to be sown,
in hopes of another crop;
but the badness of the present season
almost precludes the entertainment of hope.
But he must sow,
or else despair and perish.
He carries his all,
his precious seed,
with him in his seed basket;
and with a sorrowful heart commits it
to the furrow,
watering it in effect with his tears,
and earnestly imploring the blessing of God upon it.
God hears;
the season becomes mild;
he beholds successively the blade,
the ear,
and the full corn in the ear.
The appointed weeks of harvest come,
and the grain is very productive.
He fills his arms,
his carriages,
with the sheaves and shocks;
and returns to his large expecting family in triumph,
praising God for the wonders he has wrought.
~~Clarke’s Commentary

So we must take our seed,
even though in our eyes,
it is pitiful,
small,
and of little worth.
We bravely sow it
in our patch of influence.
Our tears and our intercessions then flow
before the only One
who put life in the seed and
who knows the time of the harvest.
For we do not know
the times and the seasons of seeds,
the long waitings and the quiet watchings,
the sudden fears and the lonely nights,
but we, in spite of all,
‘against hope believed in hope’,
because with our little mustard seed of faith
we believed as Paul said,
‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.’