Nothing is wasted

The harvest of the field is destroyed (Joel 1:11)
I have been having mid-life crisis thoughts this morning. You know, those half awake ponderings, where you wonder what on earth you did with the last 20 years. Mine focussed on a choice I made many years ago to move from a job where I was happy and settled, to a job where I was stressed and uncomfortable. I, well we really, came to the conclusion that God was calling us to make the move and so we did. And it was tough. It is an occasional recurring concern but this morning I was bothered by two thoughts: had my unhappiness rubbed off on the children and had my choices been the cause of my unhappiness. If only I had done things differently everything would have been so much better, or so my sleep befuddled brain was telling me.
I made my usual responses: a reminder that God does not always call us to easy things, and that there is as much, or even more, good in hard times as in easy and that God has his hand in all our choices for our good even the poor ones. Somehow this verse added a new sense of loss. Here it is the harvest that is destroyed. All that has been prepared for so long is ruined. The planting went well, the crops took root, the pests stayed away, the sun shone and the rain poured in good measure and then the harvest, just about to be brought in, is laid waste.
So with lives lived in Christ. They are a tale of growth and change, of loving preparation and good service, of character matured and opportunities taken. In short, Jesus has a plan for us and it is good, for he wants us to become like him, not some kind of clone, but fully ourselves with all the beauties of divine perfection. What if that were snatched away?
I've seen it. The apparently mature follower of Jesus laid low by disaster. A child killed in a terrible accident, a husband lost in the prime of married life. Terrible things. But more terrible still is the loss of faith. It is as if an oak tree in all it's glory is blown flat in a storm. The harvest is laid waste.
The fear of age is that all the efforts of our lives will be proved worthless. This is mitigated for some by a story of human success, but even they are not immune as such stories so easily fall to dust. Anyone may wake, as I did, to thoughts of worthless years and opportunities lost. Yet God's harvest is not in these things. It is in his love for us, his presence in our lives and his pattern in our souls. In the storms to come, hold on tight to him and nothing will be lost.

Friends living on a clifftop in Majorca. Out of loss comes beauty.

Comments

  1. Thank you George. You have hit the spot today. I (and I suspect we all) are glad you made the change.

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