Sowing in
Tears; Reaping in Joy
“He who goes out weeping, bearing seed for
sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him”—Psalm
126:5
I’ve
done time in two seminaries, one conservative and one liberal, but not one of
my professors ever told me that serving the Church meant suffering. Jesus, on
the other hand, told Paul plainly that he must
suffer for the sake of his name (Acts 9:16), and so it is for us.
Certainly
there are happy occasions when we are surprised by joy, when people hear the
Savior’s voice and follow him, but these serendipities go hand in hand with intense
and sometimes brutal opposition. Apathetic, hard-hearted congregants, implacable,
mean–spirited critics, small-minded obstructionists are always with us. All ground is
cursed and works hard, even holy ground.
Thus we “go out weeping” and we “sow in tears.”
Perhaps
there’s a reason: Just as all other work fails to fulfill us, so, “God will not
allow Love’s work to impart full solace, lest it steal the heart” (John Keble).
We may try to find peace and satisfaction in the work that God alone can give. Failures, disappointment
and loss accompany all that we do so that
our hearts may be drawn ever steadily to Jesus.
And
so we “go out weaping and we sow in tears”—it is necessary. But we should know
that our labor is not in vain. Nothing we do for Jesus will ever be lost or
wasted. There will be a bountiful harvest in the end: We shall come home with
shouts of joy, bringing our sheaves with
us!
David
Roper
“Let
us keep to the work of this present sowing time, and find strength in the
promise that is here so positively given us. Here is one of the Lord's shalls
and wills; it is freely given both to workers, waiters, and weepers, and they
may rest assured that it will not fail: “in due season they shall reap....”
(Charles Haddon Spurgeon).
