Harvest, by definition, always came after a lot of work, after a lot of time, after a lot of growth.  There was no other way to do it.

In early spring, the thaw would begin.  Weeks later,  the final snow would melt off and the mud would dry up so Dad could get in the fields.  During those weeks of waiting, he tended the machinery~~greasing, oiling and repairing things and getting fuel supplies ready.

When the fields were dry enough, he would plow or harrow, breaking up the dirt to prepare the ground.  Whether there was adequate surface moisture or not, he would do the seeding, trusting for later rain if there hadn’t been early rain.

Then he would wait~~No Rush To Harvest.  But waiting… waiting…waiting for the germination.  I remember seeing him kneeling at the edge of the field and working through the dirt, looking for the seeds that had been put there to die, to see if new life had broken them open as the old husk died.

There was satisfaction and encouragement in finding germination, but still~~No Rush To Harvest.  The greening of the fields.  The turning of the grain from green to golden tan.

Weeks would go by with a variety of threats and blessings.  Will those clouds bring rain or hail?  Will the sun just bless and kiss the tender green shoots, or will it bake them and kill them with too much of a good thing?  He watches the crop and waits.  He hopes for maturity and harvest~~but knows there’s no rushing it.

Then one day, It’s Time To Get The Harvest In.  When it was ready, It Was Ready.

The deliberate work, the patience and the willingness to wait until the harvest was ready was rewarded. Now there is the satisfaction of a matured harvest.

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If he had refused to wait until the harvest was ready there would have been no harvest at all.  Demanding early harvest is sabotage.   A failure to let the fruit develop in its time eliminates the harvest.

Jesus spoke about this in Luke 8:15, clearly having in mind those who see things through to a good harvest and those who won’t.   He focuses on one fine group that He describes as “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast (in an honest and good heart) and bring forth fruit (with patience).

What a choice of words!  bearing fruit, bringing forth fruit, with patience.

Such words describe deliberate thought, passage of time, a tending to the task, allowing for process.

One day when my future was hanging by a thread, I understood this truth better than I had before.  I knew it was important.  Here’s the word picture I wrote so I wouldn’t forget what I had seen.

Oh, my harvest Master,  how I need to see that you don’t compare with others when you look at me.

Like the farmer with the seed, Lord, you stand and bring forth fruit.  You ask me just to grow and learn~~and not to spurn or be ashamed of slowly turning hours and slowly blooming flowers.

You grow me well and grow me slow and look for common sense that finally understands that I should bring forth fruit~~with patience.

But I~!? Oh, Lord, you know that I would be the apple of your eye, in every way the shiniest yet…the one that you show off and brag on in the angel throng!  I want to grow so fast and strong that it becomes established fact that no one ever yet could grow so well, so fast, so long…

…and then I hear you ask again that I learn holy common sense and bring forth fruit~~with patience.

There really is no such thing as bringing forth fruit with impatience.