◄ Harvest Conditions ►

The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered awhile, make you mature, establish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Pet. 5:10).

The type of plow employed has much to do with the resultant harvest. The primitive stick-plow places quite a limitation upon what will be harvested - if anything. But if the Husbandman's plow is cutting deep into our lives, we can expect a rich harvest. As Samuel Rutherford said, "Why should I start at the plow of my Lord, that maketh deep furrows on my soul? He purposeth a crop!"

"Doth he that ploweth to sow plow continually? Doth he continually open and harrow his ground?' (Isa. 28:24). No, of course not! It is a job that has got to be done - the breaking up, the turning over, the exposing to the elements, the harrowing. The Lord is speaking to His faithful people who are feeling that they are under the plow; furrows are being cut deep into their souls; they are being turned up and turned over, laid bare, exposed, broken, harrowed. The Father says, even to faithful people, This is necessary, we are looking ahead to a harvest, to real values; this is an essential aspect of the work. But. . . take comfort - this is not going on forever.'"

"No matter what we may encounter in this life, we who belong to the Lord Jesus have this definite knowledge - our Father will use it all in love as an instrument in the carrying out of the glorious purpose to which He has destined us. If that purpose is to be wrought by delivering us from a trial, He will do so. But if it is to be accomplished by means of the trial, He, in His perfect love, will not free us from it but strengthen us to go through it and be victorious over it." -A.M.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Pet. 5:6).