Restore our fortunes, LORD,
Like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow in tears
Will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping
Carrying seed to sow,
Will return with songs of joy,
Carrying sheaves with them.

The Autumn that Colleen’s mom died, her father had to harvest his potatoes and he didn’t have it in him. He was gutted. If her sister Marion and her husband Wille hadn’t showed up and coaxed him onto that tractor and worked steadily alongside him for the 2 or 3 weeks, those potatoes would have stayed in the ground. I’ve often thought of him in these verses. He wasn’t sowing in tears, he was harvesting in tears and it was going against every natural inclination of his being. He knew God was good but he didn’t feel it. He only wanted to curl up in a ball and let the world go without him.

Prayer can be like that too. It’s often an act of hope against all the felt emotions, against all the difficult circumstances, against every natural impulse. And still, we pray.

Here’s the sure hope: Our LORD is at work. Our LORD will not let this go on endlessly. There will be a harvest. There will be!

So for now, sow seeds, throw seeds, speak prayers, shout them if need be, but pray even if you do so with tears in your eyes. Pray for loved ones who refuse to come to Him. Pray for Canada as we confront our past and plan to move forward together. Pray for the nations who are at odds with each other during a pandemic, in an energy crunch, trying to make our way through climate change and the mental health crisis our planet is experiencing.

Our Lord Jesus is King…even in our tears.

Praying and sowing with you today.

Andrew