Ecclesiastes 3. Everyone knows it. I know it, you know it, it’s our go to. Oh the encouragement that comes from it. There is a time for the valley’s and a time for the mountain tops- and this scripture confirms that we will experience them both. In my personal life I cling to these truths. The truth that my valley’s are real but it’s only a season. Sweet relief!
As a Youth Pastor, if I’m honest, I don’t fancy this passage as much as I do when I’m thinking about my personal life. You see… I’m mostly the sower. I’m the one who plants the seed. I water it. I nurture it, and if I’m lucky I may see a sprout.
Then…
BAM
Their gone. Gone to college. Gone to the mission field. Gone to marriage. Gone to poor life decisions. Just gone. In youth ministry we don’t always see our harvest. Whoever THAT guy is must be on quite the mountaintop all the time- always laughing and giddy with joy. The joy of my sowing.
When I think about it, though. I mean REALLY think about it. When I let go of my tantrum of being on the weeping, casting away, and losing side of these seasons I remember this.
I’m also the builder upper. I’m the peace giver in my student’s war. I’m the embracer. And sometimes I’m even the laugher.
I know how hard being mostly the sower is. But, friends, we have the best job in the world. We sow Jesus. We sow love. We sow hope for their future. My prayer for you, fellow sowers, is this: God, give us joy in our sowing, rest in our labor, and confidence in our seed- even if we don’t always get to see the harvest. Remind us that there would be no harvest without the sowing. Thank you for making me to be a sower. Amen!
Danielle and Cyler Craig are the Conference Youth Directors of Sonshine Network Ministries, and are in the process of starting The Cinderella House, a center for young women and girls.