Hope! Plant, Sow & Reap

The other day my husband and I decided to go for an evening walk. As we made our way down the driveway I glanced back toward our house and behold! Our front flower bed was full of lovely daffodils! What a refreshing site during this pandemic that has us all social distancing and staying at home.

I truly believe that what we do during times like these matters. It can be easy to let it scare or overwhelm us, but in this season we have a choice to make. As Galatians 6:7-8 says, we can sow into only our selfish desires, or we can follow God and sow into things that are lasting.

Plant

Before we can sow into good things, we must first plant them. You know what? Those daffodils  didn’t just appear out of nowhere. This past fall, we chose to plant bulbs by digging holes deep into the soil.

About five years ago, I unknowingly planted hope into a season of my life. After our son Lucas was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I made a job change that allowed me to work from home. Things went well for the first year, and then I was suddenly furloughed for a couple of months.

Friends, I cannot lie, I was scared and seriously worried! We had made “good” changes and now it seemed like they were falling apart. Even though I was afraid, I turned to God with the situation, and I asked Him to provide in very specific ways. There I was planting a seed of hope and not even realizing it!

What area of your life could you plant seeds of hope into right now? Maybe you are out of work due to Coronavirus safety restrictions. Or maybe you are navigating working from home with kids doing distance learning for school (me too!). It could be that you want to focus on your marriage, help others who can’t do for themselves, or simply pray for people who are going into the front lines of caring for the sick. Whatever you choose to plant, know that when you seek God, He hears your prayers and will answer them.

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:13-15.

Sow

Once our flower bulbs were planted, they needed water, and good soil to grow. Now is the time to begin sowing into the situation you planted. If we pray a one time prayer and then walk away, we are likely to forget we even planted that seed!

When I was furloughed from my job, there were some things I took part in to ensure unemployment benefits would be received and maintained.

There were other things I began to see that I hadn’t been able to because I was so busy. I suddenly had a new schedule that included lots of extra time! I’ve always been a busy person and this was nearly a first for me. I saw my family in a whole new light. My favorite things became spending time with my boys when they came home from school, having lunch with my husband, and spending time studying the Bible. It was so amazing I almost didn’t want to return to work! 

In doing the work of maintaining the unemployment benefits, spending time with my family and with God, I was sowing into the season of being furloughed. When we take steps to act on the very thing we’ve prayed over, we are partnering with God.

Reap

Finally do not give up! What you have planted and sow into, you will reap. 

Some of you have already prayed and are working hard, only to see nothing happen. Do not lose heart. God has heard your prayers, and He is faithful. Do not give up.

Remember our passage in Galatians? Chapter 5, verse 9 says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Thankfully, my furlough ended and I returned to work. God not only provided for our family, he showed me things I would never have seen on my own.

Imagine what will come out of this pandemic if we all plant seeds of hope! What you are planting hope into during this time? Share in the comments!

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