Time!

Time!

Psalm 126:5 AMPC

[5] They who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing.

The context to the verse above is closely related to the focus from yesterday's devotion where we looked at seedtime, harvest and the earthly and eternal implications of these principles. One thing that was made clear from yesterday's devotion, and is also implied from today's extract, is that God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows is what he will reap. Science has tried but it has not yet been able to change the seed to produce a different fruit. Whatever goes into the ground is what will change form, take the required nutrients, gp through a process that only God can fully explain, and then produce fruits in miltiple folds of what was planted. 

This is the first lesson for me: if I want to change the quality of the fruit, it must be done before the seed is put in the ground. The people of Israel found themselves in a place they could not have imagined. They were in a land flowing with milk and honey, as promised by God to Abraham, but carelessness and complacency had set in: they had forgotten the God that brought them this far and  they turned to other gods. Of course, in line with His word of warning to them, He punished their rebellion by handing them over to their enemies. As is the case with God, His mercy always comes through for us. He changed the story and restored them to the land, but the damage had already been done.

Like the chapter from where the verse above is taken starts from, the people knew it was God who could have turned things around the way they did. They cried to the Lord in their distress, and He heard them. As it was then, so is it now. Same God; same mercy and grace. It is in this light of mercy that we consider the message in the verse above. Why would anyone sow in tears? There could be many reasons, some of which are the sorrow that one feels for sin and seeks to pay the price that will secure freedom from its grip and influence. It could also be spiritual, where I engage in the practices of prayer, fellowship, faithfulness and obedience to all of God's instructions. 

We also know that there is precious seed being kept to be sown, so that there can be supply of food. You invest the seed in the hope of a bountiful harvest. All these images present situations that are hard and may cause pain in the immediate, but the benefits are actually worth it in the end. Yes, paying such a high price may be hard at that moment of demand, but as we know, God does not owe a man. If I am careful to obey when He leads, the promise is that joy will follow. In the hands of God and under His leadership, present suffering will lead to future joy. It does matter in whose hands, and under whose authority it is. Am I in His hands? God's time of favour is here.