Reaping

Now that is an exciting title! Yes I'm being serious. I will explain what it means. Have you read my blog post about Waiting? This post is about God giving you some of the things you have been waiting for or giving you something even better than what you have been waiting for. Reaping what God has for you! That sounds great doesn't it. Why don't we just skip the waiting process. No it doesn't work like that, be patient. Reaping only comes after Waiting. Reaping can also come after years of waiting. There is no time limit. However it does happen and that's what we have got to remember.

The key though is that things don't always turn out the way we want them to. Our lives don't always go the way we plan them. Although sometimes it turns out better than we could have imagined. We are always changing and growing as people and as a result of that, what we want changes too. If we were given everything at a time where we didn't know what we wanted, we may not want it after receiving it. We could have changed our mind. We are allowed to change our mind. Sometimes we only figure out what we really want later on.

That's one of the benefits of waiting for what we want. The waiting process can change you and change what you thought you wanted. God knows what we need and sometimes what we need doesn't always match what we want. I am sure you can come up with an example yourself of how what you wanted a few years ago is different to what you want now. God knows when it is our time to reap but remember you only reap what you sow.

For example if your life was a car, is the car going to go anywhere without you driving it? God's not going to drive it for you. He gave you the car but it's your choice where to go in it. He is going to give you fuel for the journey and put the necessary road blocks where they need to be for your own good but He isn't going to choose the direction you travel or what destination you end up in. You need to start travelling yourself first. Sometimes people know how to find another way to the original destination and either avoid road blocks or not follow God's path. Then they blame God for getting there when that destination does not turn out to be what they hoped.

It's easy to say when things don't go as planned it must be God's fault but if you make a mistake and crash a car do you blame the manufacturer or yourself? God created life but He doesn't control our lives. Imagine having a car that drove for you and you had no choice of where to go. You just got in and went where it took you even if it was somewhere you didn't want to go. That sounds like so much fun - it doesn't really. Having a choice is one of the greatest gifts we have been given and we choose how to use it.

You read the title and want to get to the part about reaping. This is all part of reaping. Reaping comes from the choices we make and God guiding us through. Remember that God knows what is best for us and what we need. So if you haven't reaped yet maybe there is a reason. When you plant the seed for things it takes time to grow. For example if you are want to get your qualification, you need to complete the coursework first. If you want a new job, you need to complete a job application.

Reaping doesn't coming without sowing. Just because you planted a seed doesn't mean it's going to grow either. Even if it doesn't grow that is not a reason to give up or try a different seed. This is the point in my blog where you think who is this person, first she is talking about cars then seeds and sowing, what has this got to do with reaping?  I hope you get my examples, if you don't , don't worry pretend you are reading a fictional story or something. I am only joking, if you don't just ask me.

I can't remember all the examples I have used in my blogs so if I use some again just smile. What was this blog post about again? Oh reaping? You see what you did there? Ah now you are wondering what I am talking about. Do you see what you have been doing throughout this blog post? Sitting and reading it is not the answer I am looking for. You have been waiting.

Waiting for me to get to my point.

Let me explain:

1. Sowing
2. Waiting
3. Reaping

What do you think that means? I wrote earlier that reaping does not come without sowing. However in-between sowing and reaping there is waiting! 

If you have a sow and then reap expectation to life you may be disappointed sometimes. Not everything you sow will reap. It's not like a piece of bread you put in the toaster and it pops up after a few minutes and it's done. It's not an instant sow and reap. Sometimes the wait could be short but you never know how long it is going to be so if you are always expecting your piece of bread to pop out the toaster instantly maybe there was a power cut while it was in the toaster. That's actually happened to me with actual bread and in life too with the example I am using. Ok anyway moving on...

When you get to a point in your life when you look back and think wow I prayed about those things and they have happened! When you realise that what you have wanted is here! That is the best feeling! Maybe it's not even what you have originally wanted but you reaped something even better! Amazing how God does this for us in our lives. He loves us so much that He takes our life as it was and changes it and gives us more than we could have imagined. 

Thank God for those moments we have in life. Whether you are in a stage of sowing, waiting or reaping or even if you haven't started a stage yet, know that God has the best plan for you. We sow, we wait and we reap a lot of things in this life. Sometimes we sow bad seeds but God has a bin we can throw all the bad seeds into and then they're gone, taken away. That's through prayer and forgiveness. 

One thing we mustn't forget when we reap; is God. Just because things haven't happened or when they do we must not forget that God brought us from one stage to another. We are enjoying reaping because God helped us get there. Yes we made our own choices and sowed the seeds but God determines the weather and nurtures some seeds. However if we don't sow the seed close to God and then it doesn't grow we blame God for the outcome when we haven't given Him the seed. We tried to grow it on our own and that's not God's fault. When we keep giving God a seed that's just an average seed, God sometimes swaps it for His own good seeds. God's a good seed planter and He teaches us to be one too. There are bad seeds in life too. You pick your seeds.

God didn't make any bad seeds. How did they get there then? There is good and bad in this world. God didn't create any bad. Leaning towards the bad is like when you make choices in life and then you mess up, do you blame your parents or yourself? So why is God blamed and not man for the choices man makes? God is standing there with a flashing light saying 'good seeds over here' but sometimes people think they don't deserve a good seed or the seeds aren't really good. It's not God's seeds that are not good, it's that we may not be ready to receive them. 

In  a world where there is so much discrimination, God is there and He doesn't even sell seeds but gives them away for free to EVERYONE! Free seeds that grow into the fruits of life that we reap! Just because God didn't plant your original seed you brought Him doesn't mean your seed will never grow, He sometimes swaps seeds for better ones we need!

You have just graduated and become a farmer! Seriously I hope in the midst of all my seed talk you caught my meaning. You may by chance notice my humour too. I am imagining people holding this big bag of seeds now to go and give God. Just remember whether you have one seed or 3 million, reaping does not always come right away!

It does come if you trust God and what's the magic word? WAIT! If you think about it we wait every day. Wait to use the bathroom, wait in traffic, wait for a tv show to start, wait for something to be cooked, wait for a drink, wait for sun (if you live in the Uk), wait for Nicola's blog to make sense, so what's the harm in waiting?

In fact there is a great thing about waiting because waiting leads to Reaping.

So it goes like this: 

God First

Here is a story, 

About waiting for God's glory,

But first we have to sow,

And wait for it to grow,

And as we wait day by day,

We have got to pray,

And God knows what seed, 

Will fill our every need,

We have got to make a start,

And let God know what's on our heart,

Only if it's God's that we are seeking,

Is when we will be reaping,

Even if we don't receive,

The aim is to believe,

If things haven't happened yet,

Remember it's not about what you get,

God's the only one that can quench our thirst,

If we put God first,

God created man, 

And He has got a plan,

So trust in this today,

Even when things don't go your way,

It's not about the things that you reap,

Your relationship with God is more important to keep,

We are to look to God above,

And live a life of love,

So when you face any strife,

Ask yourself, are you putting God first in your life?

~ by Nicola Hill

I just came up with that poem to explain what I mean. It's not about reaping but it's about putting God first. 

I have reaped some amazing things in my life thanks to God being a part of my life but I have also not reaped a lot of things too. I am thankful for what God has given me and for what He hasn't because I trust God knows what I need. God's not a genie who grants wishes. He seeks us to have a relationship with Him. Maybe sometimes you will be reaping and sometimes you wont but the point is to have a relationship with God. Pray to Him, He is listening. That's is the greatest thing we can reap in this life; a relationship with God. You reap so many things that God teaches you. Never mind the stuff or things we want. 

Maybe I should change the title to God first? No because it is about reaping but remember reaping isn't an end goal. God is our first priority. It's not always about reaping, it's about praying to God without asking for things too. You don't always want things from your friends or family sometimes you just want their company. So many times people can be focused on what how long it is taking to start reaping that they forget that God isn't just a giver, He is a listener too. He likes to know us.

I am not saying I am any better than anyone, a lot of this is what many of us learn. By people I mean me too. I am a person. I make mistakes. I think about life and I write what's on my heart. I wrote a blog post earlier this year and I haven't written in months but this blog post has slowly formed in my mind throughout the year but I haven't felt ready to write until now. If you have read my blog posts before you know I only write when I feel that moment of inspiration.

Tonight I felt it and look what happened! Thank God. It feels good to write again after so long. 

You are also welcome to write your thoughts, comments or anything else to me. Or even "hey Nicola could you write your post in English people understand next time?" 

To answer that question I can't. This is how I write. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but that's why there is coffee out there too. We all have different tastes. I think my blog posts are more like coffee because living in the Uk most people prefer tea so my blog posts are maybe not everyone's cup of coffee but that is why there is tea out there too. Meaning maybe only some will like it but I am not writing for people to like it, I write because I love to. I write because I have things on my heart that I want to write about. 

If somehow you want to hear more, you can subscribe by email to my blogs. Or if this is your first time here, you can read my other blog posts. I've written on a number of topics. I like to share my love of writing with you all. I don't expect everyone to love my writing. 

With that I shall love and leave you,

Until I write again,

God First,

Nicola Hill