Here we are . . . harvest time!
The final quarter of the year brings forth what has been planted and nurtured all year long. In the physical realm, and in the spiritual realm!
It’s a moment of great anticipation, as we prepare to witness the multiplication of the seed sown!
God has promised it! Look at Psalm 126:6: “He who goes about to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”
The result of your sowing? Joy! The eternal seed you’ve sown will yield eternal return on investment!
God’s faithfulness guarantees the outcome!
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty.” —Isaiah 55:9-11a
We have witnessed it personally!
Let me introduce you to someone who knows about sowing seed: Juan G., our attorney in Spain, a friend for more than 25 years. I had the privilege of leading him to the Lord long ago.
Juan was born to a family with large farm holdings. Today, as the elder sibling, he runs them. He’s a well-respected attorney for the Christian community, with expertise in Spain’s non-profit entities. He’s so busy with his legal practice, he runs the farming operation as a side business, to take care of his family.
I was in Juan’s office a few years ago, when a farm hand asked him for a decision:
Plant? Or not?
It had not rained for almost a year. The ground was beyond parched. I saw the tractors trying to “open the ground.” It looked like nothing but loose dust being combed by the blades.
The decision seemed fraught with danger. Should they plant and risk the loss of all the seed for a year? That’s what would happen if the rains didn’t come. To plant their seed in that dry dust would be to hope for God to do what only God can do.
In that moment, waiting for Juan’s decision, I felt helpless to advise him.
But Juan is a man of faith. “Sow the seed!” he told his foreman. “We will wait to see what God will do.”
As I drove away that day, I looked back at the tractors. They were going through the motions, but there was not a drop of water, neither in the air nor on the ground. I uttered a sincere prayer that God would answer the prayers of so many who urgently needed a harvest!
In God’s beautiful timing, I was back there in Juan’s area when the harvest came in. Everyone was grinning from ear to ear. You can imagine what had happened:
The rains came, and they were abundant.
The people rejoiced! They had risked—they had invested—and God had come through for all of them.
I can hardly describe their joy—knowing that in that year of drought, in hopes that God would again send the rains, they had put the seed in the ground.
God did exactly what was needed! The seed and the dirt were in place, the rain was the heavenly factor, and it came in as a timely, and wonderful, answer to prayer. The ideal outcome. Perfect.
It was like a happy dream come true—better than a victory in sports. It was like a green light to life. An affirmation of God’s favor.
In the soul harvest, the scenario is just the same. The seed is the Word of God, the ground is the hearts of people; the sowers must exercise faith to sow just as He said. The guarantee that God will do what He says is based on the effectiveness of His Word: it will not return void, but will accomplish that which the Lord sent it to accomplish.
The decision in Juan’s case was whether to invest in one year of sowing. The stakes in God’s eternal soul harvest are much greater.
How do we decide whether to sow?
The question has been debated, on various levels, for centuries. Take two minutes to look at “Pascal’s Wager,” the classic thought-experiment from the 1600s . . .
The philosopher Blaise Pascal suggested that it’s in your best interest to believe in God, even if you’re not entirely convinced He even exists.
Why? Because of what we now call the “cost-benefit analysis”:
- Believe in God, and you enjoy the highest potential reward (unlimited eternal happiness) with minimal potential loss (limited sacrifices in life).
- Don’t believe in God, and you risk infinite loss (eternal damnation) with no guarantee of gain.
Pascal is saying it’s a better “bet” to believe than not, based on the potential outcomes: the eternal happiness you gain, if God is real, vastly outweighs the losses you suffer by living a life of faith.
Pascal didn’t understand the joys of living in faith!
In fact, it seems clear that he didn’t understand faith at all . . .
- Faith brings comfort and joy, enriching your life beyond mere rational calculations. Believing in God fosters a sense of purpose, community, and connection. It also directs great production in the soul-harvest!
- Faith gives you a moral compass so you’re not guessing in blindness about what may or may not be, or where to turn. Faith guides your decisions and behaviors in ways that promote personal and social well-being, which leads to a more fulfilling life—“that you might have life and have it more abundantly”!
- Faith builds community, as it leads you not only to do well for yourself, but also to do good to other people, near and far. Faith is the guiding star of all the heroes of faith in the Bible! Faith has established entire communities around the world.
- Faith leads you to personal and spiritual exploration. Engaging with deeper existential questions can lead you to profound personal growth. Yes, it will bless you—but it will also bless those you’re in relationship with . . . both people of faith and people who urgently need an example of faith!
- Genuine faith leads to transformative encounters and experiences. It’s not a mere figment of the imagination, any more than love is. Faith develops your reality, and the reality of those in your family and your circle. Your faith influences and changes others.
- Genuine faith does not see decisions about God as a mere wager! A strong faith dissipates doubts about belief, and makes the “wager” of life less about fear of loss and more about gain in the realm of the spiritual, the realm of what’s truly important in life.
Bottom line: faith in God enhances life. It turns believing into a fulfilling and enriching aspect of life.
That’s what the heroes of the Bible experienced:
“And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”—Hebrews 11:32-34
Today, my beloved friend, you and I stand at a crossroads of faith.
We have a sowing decision to make.
Let’s act in faith as our heroes did. Let’s decide in a way that inspires those who come after us.
Right now, let’s call upon the spirit of Abraham, who ventured into the unknown, trusting in God’s promise.
Let’s act in the faith of Moses, who led his people from bondage.
Let’s embrace the persistent heart of Rahab, who changed the destiny of her family.
Together, you and I can be instruments of God’s love and grace, planting seeds of hope in fertile hearts and reaping a bountiful harvest for His kingdom. Let our actions echo the faithfulness of those who have gone before us, demonstrating our trust in God’s plan.
As we labor in love, our actions, our heart for the lost, and our perseverance in faith will leave a legacy for future generations. May they look upon us and say, “These were faith-filled servants of the Lord!”
Let’s run with endurance the race set before us, encouraging one another in prayer, worship, and service. We must be diligent in our commission, for the fields are ripe, and the laborers are few.
May our faith shine bright, shedding the light of God’s love into the lives of multitudes who—as you read these words—still wander, lost and fearful, in spiritual darkness.
Please give your best today. Sow the seed with joy, in faith. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generous partnership. God bless you!
In His love and purpose,
Dr. Manny Fernandez
P.S. So many in need . . . so great the potential harvest . . . and you and I have the privilege of multiplying great numbers of workers into the fields! Please sow your most generous possible seed in faith today. Thank you in advance!