Sowing and Reaping are terms primarily heard in farming or garden, but also within Biblical and spiritual contexts.
Sowing is about what you are putting in the Earth, but also the effort that you are putting into something. It is about the seed, the Earth with which you cover it, what you water it, how many times you water it, sometimes repotting, and always be tended to, or nurtured. From a spiritual standpoint, this could look at what God called you to do, the gifts He afforded you (what most call talents these days), and how you not only nurture the gifts and the relationship with Him, but also how you take care of self. What do you tell yourself at 3 am and is it as nice as the affirmations you say in the mirror at 7 am? Who's all beside you? What do you read? How are you taking care? That is sowing. You may not know the seed, its genus, how much light or water or air or love it needs, but you know that it needs to be taken care of. That is sowing. Sowing could be obedience to do that which you are called to do, but it can also be something like setting boundaries. Setting boundaries sets you up. It sets the garden up. It sets up both protection and freedom for the seed. No to the pesticides, no to the fences, for example. For example, you don't check emails during worship service and you make time for devotional overall. That is sowing.
Reaping is usually attached to the phrase, "reaping the benefits." It is typically about reward or achievement for the effort and nurturing put into the seedling. The fruit that bears is a culmination of the obedience to water, rest in the light, air out and lighten the burdens on the topsoil, and weed out, or prune, with the help of God. Reaping is about a harvest. It is about the baby swaddled in blankets and love. The birthing process, epidurals, C-section, gritting of teeth, eating-for-two, and the breathing exercises, all led the momma, the recipient here. Also, don't be remiss: harvest time, or reaping, sometimes is never about you receiving the "benefit." I don't mean to rob you of your long awaited joy, but there will be people that reap what they didn't sow. They will call houses home that we built and call our treasures their trove as if they discovered it.
Knowing this, the reaping and sowing, or sowing and reaping, process is about generosity. We must be generous enough to permit and welcome others to our overflow. There is more than enough. If everyone could do it, they would. They would sow and reap, we would all rejoice, and there would be a bounty of glory to God. What am I trying to say? Find room for patience while others catch up and gratitude to know that which you do. Find room to teach it to the next person.
So, sowing is all you. Your action or inaction (even inaction is action). Reaping may or may not be about you, but the blessing is still there nevertheless. As long as you can see it.*
All the Best,
CLG (Clarreese La'Nay Greene)
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