“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. (S)he who goes to and fro weeping, carrying (her) bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing (her) sheaves with her.” (Psalm 126:5-6)
What is the weeping time for you? What triggers it? Exhaustion? Angry, hurtful words and slammed doors? Long sleeves in summer with a stain of blood seeping through? Chronic stress? The not-knowing? A wrenching loss?
The weeping time comes to all humans. It’s all right have that painful season. Going through days with an ache in the chest and leaking eyes — this is part of life.
But what do we do with it, this period of grief and fragment? What I see in these verses is that during the weeping, we can sow seeds. Planting a seed is an act of faith. It says that this shriveled, dry thing, poked into soil, will transform. Faith accepts the weary task that muddies hands and feet. Faith in the God of resurrection assures us that the labor of grief, there in the dirt soaked by the saline that drips off our faces, is valuable. Absence of weeping is not evidence of faith. Practicing faith during the weeping is what brings forth harvest.
My greatest weeping time came during the years when my son was ill and did not seem to show any improvement, and I daily feared for his life. I could not imagine a harvest of good, but God in His mercy led me to sow anyway. Some of my “seeds” that I planted in that mud:
Jesus loves me, this I know.
This I know, that God is for me. (Psalm 56:9b)
Hope in Christ does not disappoint. (Romans 5:5)
… and so many more.
Parched, misshapen little nuggets of faith, planted in rows made crooked by the fact that my eyes were clouded by tears. To me they didn’t look like they could become a field of harvest, but I believe in a God who made the world with His word and a Word Who makes heirs with His blood.
He brings the harvest to me still.
I will always be held.
He will make all things new.
My life is hid with God in Christ.
Let’s fill our bags of seed full to the brim with seeds to plant during the weeping time.
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