When summer's harvest feels like so much work ….

I stared down at the 50-lb. box of apples I had picked from the tree in our yard.

Maybe I could just give them away?

No, I needed to do something with them.  Core, slice, freeze in ziplock bags, ready for applesauce all winter. I knew what needed to be done, but it was 90-degrees outside and I’d already run 7 miles and cleaned the house and spent hours preparing for the first RENEW BBQ the next day.

Then I opened the fridge: Beets from the garden needing to the roasted, beans needing to be washed and eaten, lettuce needed to be washed (over and over and over). There were still more apples on the tree waiting to be picked and dealt with.

Harvest actually takes a lot of work. 

It struck me (God?) while running. You’re part of the harvest. How interesting that while working hard on the season of food-harvest we were also working hard on this church-plant; which hopefully will be, Lord willing, a harvest of souls.  The little things like praying, forming 34 hamburgers, making Costco runs for food, cleaning, organizing toys, setting up tables. All those little jobs are part of the harvest. Just like the little stuff of washing, slicing and coring apples — it’s all harvest stuff.

What is harvest anyway?

Physically, we don’t “make” the harvest. We don’t control it, or determine when it will come. It’s not up to us. We simply work, water, weed, watch, and wait. We work the ground and plant seeds, we water faithfully little by little, over time, we weed whenever we see something harmful spring up (or in the case of our garden, our friends weed it…which is convenient!), and then we watch and wait. It is up to God, not us, when He chooses to bring fruit. But when He does, it is our job to harvest. And for all of us non-farmers out there, just in case we didn’t know — harvesting it actually a lot of work. 

But. It’s worth it.

When, come November, you open that freezer and take out a snack of frozen blueberries. When your kids sit over bowls of steaming applesauce, freshly made from frozen apples. When you pull a hot blackberry cobbler from the oven. When you watch your kids chomp on fresh green beans from the garden. The joy, the warmth, the nourishment, the strength.

The fruit. Their little bodies grow all because you took the time and energy to harvest.

I’m freshly reminded that spiritual harvesting is worth it too.  As I sat around last night, surrounded by saints eager to see God’s Kingdom come, eager to grow and be challenged. I was overwhelmed by God’s goodness, grace, generosity toward us as we had our first Renew Church gathering. And the best part–seeing the fellow harvesters around us. Workers, laborers, normal people who live normal lives and hold normal jobs — but who belong to the un-normal upside down kingdom and are willing to lay down their lives to harvest. To be part of the harvest by washing dishes or grilling burgers, by living below their means and giving their excess away. There’s a million ways to be part of the harvest (and thousands of local church bodies where this harvest takes place) and it’s hard work that’s for sure … but it’s worth it.

So let’s keep harvesting and praying for harvesters. Jesus said this:

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Jesus is saying, “The harvest is now.” This is the season. Now is the time. The apple trees are full of fruit. The green beans are ready. The tomatoes are bright red. Spiritually, people are hurting, hungering, needing.

But there’s no way to harvest without work. 

So this week instead of asking God for more time to relax, I’m just asking Him for strength to harvest. In the natural and the spiritual. Strength to clean this house and train these kids and run the miles and keep picking apples and blackberries. And strength to spend time with Him and love people and ask Him for ways to show His truth, love, light to the world. This week my kids are in swim lessons every day. I’m asking Jesus to bring ripe people across my path as I sit at that pool. Lord, let me harvest. Give me eyes to see where you are working, and the strength to go there and work alongside You. For Your harvest, for Your glory. Amen? 

Where are you harvesting this week? Let us know. Praying for strength for you too. Thanks for reading.