Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love the perfect mix of cooler weather and warm weather. I love being able to wear my flip flops and sweaters at the same time! Fall creates an intensity that paints the trees with colors and is highlighted by the rich saturated blue sky. Fall is also special to me because I have many memories sitting on the gynormous tires of the combine. We would eat a picnic supper my mom packed for us to share with my dad while he was out in the fields for harvest. I would make laps with him in the combine and always loved getting to flip the switch that would allow all the grain to dump into the semi truck.
Crops go through crazy weather conditions. It endures spring floods, it burns in the summer sun, it is tossed and blown in storms and even shredded at times as hail beats it down. But every fall after all it has endured, there is a harvest.
We all go through seasons in our lives where it feels more like we are running a race. Some are longer and shorter than others. A mini marathon, a triathlon, an iron man... For me I have been in a season of endurance like I have never had to run...
I have felt like I have about drown at times.
I have felt scorched and burnt.
I have felt tossed and thrown aside.
I have felt beaten down.
I have stopped to grab a drink from time to time. I have seen side markers where I thought the finish line was going to be swaying in the wind with cheering and shouting fans yelling at me! Then when I take that turn... and listen for the cheering.... and look ahead....
I see nothing but more road.
The race is not over.
The finish line that I had expected.... says 20 more miles.
I am tired.
I am weary.
Lately I have been craving the finish line. Or rather the harvest from a harsh and rough season. I have imagined the celebration and can taste the victory and reward.
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.aBecause of the joyb awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people;c then you won’t become weary and give up.
Hebrews 12:1
God has shown me lately, that instead of fixing my eyes on Jesus I was so focused with how much more I had to run. He says focus on me. I am cheering you on with a great crowd of witnesses. Don't give up! RUN! The weight for me has been my inability to take my eyes off of the completion of the season. Satan distracts us with harsh conditions sometimes. He even creates mirages that tend to bring the finish line closer than it really is to discourage and distort the real race we are running. He wants us to give up on the prize or distracts us from what the real prize is.
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good,for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galations 6:7-9
As I drive down the country road and see the dust rolling from the fields I am reassured that harvest is near. We must continue to focus our eyes on God's goodness and his love for us. What I have realized is that I already have the reward. The prize is already mine. Harvest has come! Flipping the grain switch and watching the harvest fall into the truck wasn't my favorite part of harvest... That wasn't the real reward. It was sitting with my father in the combine every fall.... he was the harvest. The great moments of sitting next to him, laughing, helping and being with him. That was my favorite part of harvest. He was my reward. He was a harvest of memories and talks that are priceless. Such is the same for this season of my life. The reward isn't running through the tape at the end of the finish line... it's running the race with the prize himself. It's the constant cheering and encouraging God gives me as I make the next turn. It is in moments when I trip and fall he is the prize that picks me up and tells me to keep running.
His love... his presence in the midst of the race.... he is the real harvest.
Him running the race with me... that is the prize.
