The Harvest Has Come!

October 2024

He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.'”
                                                                                                                                         Mark 4:26-29
 
This parable uses the imagery of harvest to describe the growth of God’s kingdom. It reminds us that God is always at work, even when we can’t see it. Faith and hope are required in seasons of renewal and change. Friends, our culture, community, our church, and we as individuals are changing. God is always working even when it may seem otherwise. His work is not dependent on our awareness of it! In God’s great redemption plan, of which we are all a part, God is working for the kingdom of God on earth. Many of us remember the splashy Blockbuster stories of the Bible of how God showed up in mighty and obvious ways. Think an unquenchable fire in a bush, talking donkey, or being lifted into the sky at His transfiguration. I wonder, how many other stories, if we search, can we see how God quietly intervened in situations. How often opportunities just “fell into our laps.” How the Spirit worked something out in our favor at the last minute. Consider when you prayed for something years ago and it has just come to fruition. Whether a “sign and wonder” or “behind the scenes whisper” know that our God’s working constantly to build His kingdom here. Let’s jump at the chance to be a part of it!


In Christ,
 
Rev. Elyse Nielsen