Genesis 8 v 22

RECURRENT THOUGHT

Harvest is a function of seasons. Accordingly, a harvester is a person who has learnt how to handle or work with seasons of life.

INTRODUCTION

Genesis 8 v 22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease”. In this verse God was re-affirming the order of life according after the destruction of the earth by floods. This scripture also places the concept of harvest in the context of seasons:

• Life is cataloged in or defined by seasons.
• Seasons are an immutable fact of life. God says they shall not cease! You cannot wish/pray them away.
• The regularity of seasons is certain. They may be short or long but they will come.
• Seasons provides certainty to life. No need to stress about what will happen tomorrow, you can plan on the certainty of seasons! (Ecclesiastes 9 v 11, but time and chance happen to them all)
• The certainty of seasons must spar faith not fear.
• A harvester does not set out to fight or change seasons, rather he changes to leverage seasons. A harvester must accept that there is no harvest without seed time, no heat without cold, no summer without winter, no day without night!
• A harvester is made by all the seasons (not one of them); a harvester is not made in the harvest season only

1. MADE IN THE WINTER

   1. Winter is the coldest and darkest seasons of the year in the temperate and polar regions of the earth.
   2. It is dull, uninspiring, inhibiting, crippling, dark, freezing, lonely etc. It causes winter blues (feeling of sadness or low mood).
   3. In winter seasons of life everything around you appear to suggest that you quit! Wintercan kill both the farmer and the seed!
   4. To be a harvester one must learnt how to survive the winter (both him and the seed)
   5. Winter is the perfect time to build yourself---get stronger, wiser and better! Use the absence of attention to focus on yourself!
   6. Don’t wish it was easier; wish you were better! Don’t wish for less problems, reach for more skills! Don’t wish for less challenges wish for more wisdom! (Ecclesiastes 10 v 10…if the axe is dull more strength is needed but wisdom will bring success with less effort)
   7. Remember the summer body is built in winter! 

2. MADE IN THE SPRING

   1. Spring is the period of the year when temperatures get warmer, flowers broom and day light increases.
   2. It is a season that symbolizes fresh start, a season of opportunities.
   3. Although spring follows winter, it is not time for basking in the sun.
   4. A harvester must learn to take advantage of the opportunities that come in the spring!
   5. Spring is the major planting season for countries that have four seasons. You take advantage of the spring by planting!
   6. It is not enough to be alive in the spring! It is what you do in the spring that determines what you reap in the fall. Proverbs 20 v 4 “a farmer too lazy to plant in the spring has nothing to harvest in the fall.”
   7. You either plant in the spring or become a beggar in the fall. (Galatians 6 v7…God cannot be mocked)

3. MADE IN THE SUMMER

   1. In summer, the farmer primarily focuses on maintaining a healthy crop by weeding, irrigating, monitoring for pests …tending to livestock to prevent overheating.
   2. Summer is a season when the Harvester learns to take care of the crop.
   3. It is not enough to plant (start), cultivate the discipline to take care of what you have started!
   4. Summer breeds all manner of pests and diseases.
   5. Take note that every good thing will be attacked, every garden will be invaded. Everything of value must be defended. Don’t be naïve!
   6. Don’t lose focus, the objective is not the enemy or the weeds but the crop. Don’t pull the plant with the weeds. (Mathew 13: 24-43)

4. MADE IN THE FALL(AUTUMN)

   1. The fall also known as autumn is the season when the crop matures and ripens. It’s a season of harvest.
   2. Although harvest is associated with abundance and prosperity for the farmer it is a time of reckoning. The reality of life is that the success of harvest varies. The harvest may completely fail or where it succeeds the success may be at different levels.
   3. A harvester must learn to take responsibility for the harvest. Responsibility is a sign maturity.
   4. The farmer must learn to reap without complaining where the harvest is not good. No blame games. Take responsibility! Learn the lessons!
   5. Habakkuk 3:17-18 AMP [17] Though the fig tree does not blossom And there is no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive fails And the fields produce no food, Though the flock is cut off from the fold And there are no cattle in the stalls, [18] Yet I will [choose to] rejoice in the Lord; I will [choose to] shout in exultation in the [victorious] God of my salvation!
   6. The farmer must learn to reap without apology where the harvest is good. Celebrate victories without apology. The bible allows us to boast in the Lord! 1st Corinthians 1 v 31 “He who boasts and glories, let him boast and glory in the Lord”
   7. Celebrate whilst acknowledging that it is him who gave you strength to make wealth! It is him who made the plant to grow while you were sleeping Mark 4:27.
   8. The harvest is not the end of the story, winter is coming and the seasons will roll over again.

CONCLUSION & ALTAR TIME

Throughout the process of sowing and reaping God is really interested in the farmer. The best harvest is one which results in the farmer conforming to the image of Christ. We are the real seed (and harvest) that God is interested in. We must grow and mature even as we grow and mature the seeds God has dropped in our hands.

Pray for your growth!