Harvest Season

The past few weeks have found me continually canning vegetables from an abundant harvest produced by avid gardeners. My daughter and my husband, a retired farmer, are gathering an abundant yield…. resulting from dedicated cultivation, planting and nurturing that has been teamed with the wisdom of a true “farmer at heart.”

In this season of my life, I have met with a senior mentor who sends me encouraging text messages. The harvest of her words restores my spiritual soul. This text touched my heart. I trust it will minister to you also. Enjoy.

Years ago my dad took our family mushroom hunting in the country. We pulled up along a road packed with other parked cars. The woods were already full of eager hunters and loud voices. We got out of the car and walked the exact path where everyone else has just passed through. I said to my dad, “I smell mushrooms.” He smiled and said, “So do I.” Relying on a scent and not on what we could visibly see, we looked down and filled our sacks to the brim from areas where people had just walked but were too busy to “look down.”

We left with an abundance, while others went home empty handed. Sometimes we exhaust ourselves running around looking everywhere for answers, when God has the answers directly in front of us and all around us. We are just too busy and distracted to be silent and “see” the harvest.

When we pray there is a hidden harvest waiting to be poured out. Our prayers are a pleasing aroma to God, who preserves them in heaven. The blessings we need are often near us, around us, waiting for the right moment to be harvested. Prayers are not lost, discarded or ignored. God gathers them up, preserves them and when the timing is right, pours out His answers. Revelation 5:8 describes the elders holding “golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

God cultivates, plants and brings in the harvest.

Trust His timing and trust his wise “farmer wisdom.” He has mastered the art of abundant produce.