Hosea 8.7 7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap
the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it
were to yield, strangers would devour it. (ESV)
Israel and Judah were in times of great turbulence but
instead of seeking God and humbling themselves under His law, they did it their
way. From the earliest days of their existence God had called them over and
over to stick with Him; but they
tired of the sticking and went their own way. And now, in Hosea’s day they were
on the cusp of complete humiliation and impending exile among the pagan nations
they sought to emulate.
Following God is a two-way venture. God is God and He
will lead us but we must trust His leadership. God is Lord, but we must submit
to His Lordship. That is, if we call Him Leader and Lord. And so we must have a
plan to do so. Israel lived without a plan that included God. Most of the time,
so do I…
The harvest of sowing the seeds of
flying-by-the-seat-of-the-pants will be the same chaos of flying by the seat of
one’s pants; chaos only begets seeds of more chaos. If you always do what you’ve
always done; you’ll always be where you’ve always been. To move beyond that,
one must have a plan.
I am facing two things in my (current) schedule that
demand much of my attention and a willingness on my part to do something about
them. One is imminent and the other is about a year away. The closer one looks
to be at best, a mediocre effort on my part for lack of my plan: if you sow the wind, you reap a whirlwind.
The one further off is going to require significantly more effort and energy
(as well as prayer) but to continue on the way I’ve been going will only mean
more whirlwind.
Israel and Judah’s plan didn’t include an unshakable devotion
to God and didn’t include much thought about the consequences of their sowing.
They were active in much but they we inactive in what was important: depending
upon God.
Our lives (yours and mine), if we’re going to be
successful must include more than wind-sowing. Our daily comings and goings are
measurable indicators of our future success based upon what kind of seed we
sow. If we take for granted what we take for granted we shouldn’t be surprised
if we come up surprised one day that it (whatever it is) was never meant to be
quick, easy, or effortless.
The answer lies in what seed we’re presently sowing.
Today is the day to keep in mind tomorrow’s harvest. If today, the seed sown is
inaction and procrastination, then we shouldn’t be befuddled or miffed if
tomorrow all we get is regret over today’s sowing.
Father God, I am
sorry, humbled, and convicted over my present choice of seeds sown and I repent.
To do what I think You’ve called me to do can’t get done without a plan and I
need You to help me come up with a change of course or at least better seeds to
sow… I believe Your word helped me today… Amen.
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