Sow Small Things

Yesterday we got a call from an out of town friend in need.  A friend since our first days in college.  We don't really get a chance to see each other much since I live a lot further away from that college.  His family was traveling without him and had an unexpected and scary medical need.  I couldn't do much but be a familiar face in a strange town for a little while.  It was a small thing.

Most of us do small things everyday and we think they don't amount to much.  Perhaps we are expecting the harvest too soon?

I am learning about sowing as a success goal in life.  John Maxwell has written:

Define success as sowing, not reaping.  So often people sow with the expectation of quick returns and are disappointed when that is not the case. Instead, we must sow and be prepared to wait for the harvest in due time. During that time, take a step back and recognize the immense impact you have on others. That is the true reason for living.

Then I read an excerpt from Robert Benson's book, Digging In:

“Gardens are about waiting and about hope as much as they are about anything. You wait for spring to come and for roses to bud out and for the earth to green up again. You wait for seeds to germinate and irises to spread. You wait for the dogwoods to turn white and pink and for the maple to go golden in the fall. And all the while you hold a vision of some new thing in your head, of what the garden will be someday. You cannot hurry it along, not any of it. Spring comes when it comes; roses bloom when they will; the garden grows at its own sweet pace. What it teaches you is to wait, to be patient, and to pay attention. Some morning the sun will rise, and something you have always dreamed of will come true.”

A seed is a small thing.  Most of us do a lot of small things, but it is hard to see them as valuable because our desire is so focused on the harvest.  Do small things matter?

If I eat enough small pieces of candy, I am going to gain weight and be unhealthy.  If I tell enough small lies, they will build a harvest of distrust.  Don't small things matter now as well as eventually?

Perhaps God will lead us to sow intentional, godly, small things in our lives.  Things that may not be appreciated or produce immediate harvest.  Prayer.  Scripture.  Love.  Wisdom.  Kindness.  Loving Correction.

It is His harvest anyway, isn't it.  So what?  Sow the small things that will produce a great harvest for Him.

Some of you are parents.  Sow well.
Some of you are working without much recognition.  Sow well.
Some of you have faithfully ministered to someone without harvest yet.  Sow well.
Some of you are teachers and educators.  Sow well.
Some of you serve others at your job.  Sow well.

You may be more successful than you thought!

It is His harvest, in His time.