planting & harvesting

Proverbs 19:21 You can make plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail.

We here in America are so success oriented that we often think that if we start something we think we'll get to see the fruit of those labors.

That's not necessarily the way it works. As Paul said, some plant, others cultivate, & others harvest.

A pastor I know had that happen to him. He pioneered a church, & worked hard for many, many years. He felt God promised him that it would grow into a big bustling church. But it was only after he retired & the next pastor came along that it finally grew into the church God revealed to him it would become.

The first pastor planted & cultivated, but it was the second who harvested.

You may say that that wasn't fair to the 1st pastor. If he worked all those years, then he should have been the one pastoring who saw the results.

But then, who are we to say?

God only asks us to be obedient. The results, & the timing of the results, are up to Him, and the plans He's laid out.

I've lived long enough that I've quit trying to explain my life. I know I'm supposed to be what God dreamed me to be, & do whatever is an extension of that being. What happens after that is up to Him.

I also believe that if He promises something, it will come true - we may just not see it happen when we think it is supposed to happen. God's promises are always kept; they just may not occur when we think that ought, or should.

God speaks to me in songs - pretty cool since I'm a musician. One has been rolling around in my head lately. An acappella group called Glad, who recorded during the '80's especially, recorded a song called, "Be Ye Glad". Below is a link on YouTube.com to hear them sing it. Below that are the words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCle-iTWyVU

(if that does work, got to YouTube & type in Be Ye Glad. Listen to the one of the 5 guys Glad dressed in black)

Lyrics to Be Ye Glad :
In these days of confused situations
In these nights of restless remorse,
When the heart and the soul of a nation
Lay wounded and cold as a corpse

From the grave of the innocent Adam
Comes a song bringing joy to the sad.
Oh your cry has been heard and the ransom
Has been paid up in full, be ye glad

Chorus:
Oh, be ye glad, oh, be ye glad.
Every debt that you've ever had
Has been paid up in full by the grace of the Lord.
Be ye glad, be ye glad, be ye glad

So be like lights on the rim of the water
Giving hope in a storm sea of night
Be a refuge admist the slaughter
Of these fugitives in their flight

For you are timeless and part of a puzzle.
You are winsome and young as a lad.
And there is no disease or no struggle
That can pull you from God, be ye glad

Words and Music by M.K.Blanchard
© Gotz Music/Benson