The Sowing/Reaping Discrepancy

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. - 2 Corinthians 8:9

This week our pastor brought up this passage, talking about the uncertain relationship between sowing and reaping. In the movie Faith Like Potatoes a farmer makes a decision based on his trust in God to plant potatoes in a time of drought. He could not see the result of his sowing until harvest day. The weather is not under the farmer's control. Disease and rot could strike and wilt the healthiest of crops.  But no potatoes planted means no potatoes harvested.

Sowing is uncertain. Time and money and food, are invested into the dirt with no guaranteed return. But if sowing is anxious, it is the waiting for harvest that grinds us down with worry. Second-guessing. Weather watching. Crop checking.

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. - Psalm 126:5-6

I have seen this myself as a computer programmer. We have developed a number of innovative new concepts in the field of PC firmware and applied for patents on these ideas. The initial work to bring the ideas about was hard work. The paperwork associated with patent filing is tedious. Then, finally, the patent is filed. Then the waiting begins. Months of silence from the U.S. Patent Office go by. Then years. Many of my patent filings have been over four years from the time they were filed until I finally was awarded my patent and received my award. And the advantages for my company for exclusive access to those innovations may be years after that. In some cases, my patents were rejected, where they were not innovative enough or where they too closely resembled a previous invention.

But the successful farmer relies on the fact that the harvest is much greater than the planting. The seed of generosity may fall on infertile ground. But it may also fall on rich, fertile soil. Oak trees use this method as a sort of search strategy to find a good growing place for a new oak. Drop a lot of acorns. Many fail. But some--a few--maybe even one--finds the perfect place for a baby oak.  Jesus said that the single seed that falls on the good dirt bears 30, 60 or even 100 times.

Generosity is like that. It may result in nothing. It may result in a huge blessing. That's not in our hands, but it is in God's. As Paul said in relation to ministry:

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. - 1 Corinthians 3:7

So sow generously. Wait patiently. Rejoice at the harvest.

Tim