by Martiele P. Swanko
If any of you have ever worked on a farm, you are acquainted with the work that is necessary before you can harvest a crop. I have a small backyard garden. Although it is small, it requires much maintenance, care and time. If I ever expect to receive my harvest, I know it will require time and effort on my part. 1 Cor 3:8 states it this way, “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”
I believe the family of God is moving into a financial harvest. The Body at large is about to reap a great harvest. And, it is just around the corner. I know all of us want to receive a harvest, and indeed we shall. The question is will it be a good or a bad harvest? The answer of course, depends on the seeds we have sown and how we have maintained our soil. (Hopefully, we all are sowing more good seed than bad seed.)
It seems that many of us have been up against the wall and wondering if God forgot about us. The pressures have been so intense and the fire… hot. Our flesh is burning. We don't think we can take another minute of it. All the while, God is plowing our ground, so to speak, and getting rid of the weeds and allowing the rocks to surface through these pressures. He is showing us the areas in our lives that have become hardened and need weeding and plowing.
I believe this harvest is going to take place to help finance the great harvest of souls that will be coming in. Enormous finances are required to fund the gospel. God is getting ready for a great outpouring of His Spirit among men. Entire families will be saved.
What does it take to receive a good harvest? Farmers understand it takes lots of seed, watering, plowing and sun. But none of this will matter, if we do not have healthy soil to plant our seed. You may ask, "How do I make sure my soil is healthy?" Well, in farming terms, we need to get rid of the rocks and plow our ground well.
I heard a story about a man that was farming out in the Midwest. He said his summer job was to remove the rocks from the soil and throw them into a pit. He needed to do this, because if he didn't, the farmer would be unable to produce anything in the soil. Also, it would prove deadly to the farmer's harvest and …costly. (For example, the rocks would dull your equipment. You would require large sums of money and time to repair the damage. You would become exhausted, as you tried to grow a harvest). There was no choice. These rocks had to be removed, if you wanted to receive a harvest.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. We need to get rid of the rocks that are hindering our growth. The Bible refers to these "rocks" as offenses. John 16:1 states it this way, "These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended." Proverbs 18:19 says it this way, "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle." Wow, that is pretty powerful…these rocks can cause our hearts to become as hard as the bars of a castle!
God wants to give us our financial harvest (breakthrough), but we must first remove the rocks that are hindering us from receiving that breakthrough. We must deal with the rocks in our life! We need to free our hearts from the rocky places that have crept up to the surface. That old farmer needed to remove his rocks once a year and as each year approached, more rocks will have come to the surface and the process would begin again. Without removing these, the farmer's harvest would indeed suffer.
As Christians, we cannot permit the offences we have received, spoil our harvest. The farmer understood it was not an option. We too, as Christians, must understand, it is not an option for us either. Lets plow our ground with prayer and praise. And, with the help of the Son, we will be able to keep our soil pliable. Attending church regularly and reading our Bible, will also help in not allowing the offences we receive weekly, and for some of us daily, time to take root and produce rocky areas in our hearts. The Bible refers to these rocks, as a hardened heart. Hosea 10:12 explains it this way, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.”
Remember, we don’t have an option brothers and sisters. Let’s get rid of the fallow ground and rocks in our life. It’s harvest time!
