My team and I have been in Thailand for about two weeks now. Thailand has been a little bit of a struggle. Coming from Guatemala to here has been hard. Guatemala was so, so good. We were always being poured into and there was always an overflow. We always saw the fruit of it, it was so evident.
I think the Lord is teaching me a lot through being here. One of the biggest things he’s reminded me of is that were not always here to reap the harvest. Sometimes were in a place to see the harvest, other times to plant seeds, and sometimes were simply here just to plow the field. But the Lord told me to stop saying just. He said you’re not here to just plow, sometimes the smallest things to you, are the biggest things in the kingdom. Just because it wasn’t what I expected or it isn’t what I was doing in Guatemala, doesn’t mean it’s any less valuable. I’m learning that it’s all for the kingdom. I’m learning that reaping the harvest and plowing the field isn’t any different in the eyes of the Lord.
One month ago, we were laying hands and seeing healings, and leading people into accepting Jesus for the first time. This week we were painting to help a local organization get their school up and running. And honestly I wasn’t very excited about it, I didn’t want to do it. But the Lord stopped me. He told me that what we’re doing here isn’t any less important than the work we did in Guatemala. I think its easy to get caught up in the things we’re not doing here, the things we could be doing, or falling into comparison, but I can’t do that. I’m working on choosing in every single day. Because the Lord is here, he’s working here, even if we don’t always see the fruit of it everyday. I’m learning how to rejoice in the small victories, to find joy in the little things, and be thankful for things I might have over looked in the past.
Asia is different, and its difficult. But, I’m thankful to be here and I’m thankful the Lord is using me to bring kingdom. Im thankful that the people here are already sons and daughters, even if they don’t know it yet. Thanks God that you love them. Thanks God that you are a pursuing God. And thanks God that you’ve allowed me to reap the harvest, but that you’re also using me to plow the field.
I looked up the definition of plowing a field:
“The primary purpose of plowing is to turn over the upper layer of the soil, bringing fresh nutrients to the surface, while burying weeds and the remains of previous crops and allowing them to break down. As the plow is drawn through the soil it creates long trenches of fertile soil called furrows.”
Wow. The lord is using us to slowly break away whats not of Jesus in this culture, and create room for him and allow space for his truth to come in!! There is so much beauty in the process.
I was reflecting on this past week and thinking about all of this and Jesus spoke to me. He said, “The harvest can’t come if we don’t plow first. One day the harvest will be so big and so great it’ll be worth the wait, I promise.”
