We Are All Sowers

As a child, I spent many a Sunday afternoon at my grandparent’s house. Summertime was my favorite for that was when my grandfather’s watermelons were ripe and ready for picking. He’d take us out back and select one from the garden, take it inside, and slice it up for us to eat. They were so sweet and juicy, no grocery store could ever compare.

It seems the propensity for gardening skipped me. I remember my father planting sunflower seeds and they grew the tallest sunflowers in our side yard. My sister has harvested vegetables of all kinds. But I can barely keep a succulent alive. While I’m not much of a gardener, the Bible tells us that we are all sowers. To sow is to scatter seed with the expectation that it will grow into something. If we are all sowers, what is the seed that we scatter?

To answer that question, it’s helpful to look at the book of Hosea, specifically chapter 8. There we see the prophet speak against Israel’s sin and warn them of judgment to come. Those familiar with the book know that Israel is compared to an unfaithful wife. That’s because God’s people rejected his covenant and broke his law (Hosea 8:1). They put on an outward show of piety and worship but their hearts were far from God. They didn’t seek after God, but sought after idols and worshipped them instead: “With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction” (Hosea 8:4) They turned to other kings and other nations for help and rescue and not in the God who made them his own.

God warns them that they will reap what they sow: “For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:8). Or as Calvin wrote, “they shall receive a harvest suitable to the sowing.” Indeed, Israel reaped the whirlwind when they were later conquered and taken into captivity.

C.H. Spurgeon comments on Hosea 8: “We are all sowing; we cannot help it. No one goes forth in the morning without a seed-basket. As we are all sowing, the great question we have to consider is, “What will the harvest be?” It’s helpful to ask ourselves: Are we sowing seeds of faith or of unbelief? Are we sowing seeds of righteousness or unrighteousness? Are we sowing seeds for this world or the world to come? Are we sowing for our glory or for God’s glory? What we sow, that we will reap. The harvest depends on what is sown. Just as we can’t expect green beans to grow if we’ve sown melon seeds, we can’t expect life to grow from seeds of death.

The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8 NIV). There is wisdom in thinking through what we are sowing and looking ahead to consider what the potential harvest of that sowing might be. To be aware that we do reap what we sow. That with choices come consequences. But there’s also encouraging news, because when we sow to please the Spirit, we are promised a bountiful harvest. Paul encourages us not to grow weary or give up in our labors: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9). Spurgeon encourages us as well: “If we have believed in Christ and received eternal life by faith in him, and if we are trying to labor for him, we are sowing blessed seed; and if it comes not up today, or tomorrow, yet divine grace ensures a crop that we will gather in one of these days. Therefore, we may be encouraged to labor on. The farmer waits for the precious fruits of the earth through the long and dreary winter, through the checkered days of spring, through March winds and April showers he waits until at last the golden harvest rewards him for all his toil. What we sow, we will also reap. Our Lord has told us so.”

As we begin a new year, it’s helpful to ask ourselves: What am I sowing today? And second: What will the harvest be? May we sow that which brings honor to the One who redeemed us for the harvest he promises will last far into eternity.

Photo by Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash

Everyday Faithfulness in Seasons of Waiting

The year was 1943. My grandparents were married only a few months when my grandfather joined the Army to fight in WWII.

Over the course of that year, my grandfather would travel to bases in VA and GA to complete his training before heading overseas to Europe where he would eventually receive orders to head to the beaches of Normandy in June of the following year. A technical problem would delay him by a day or two, protecting his life and ultimately, that of my own. For my grandmother, the year of 1943 was a year of waiting. Waiting for letters from my grandfather, waiting to hear where he was and what he was doing, and like the rest of the nation, waiting for the war to end.

I know all this because when I visited my parents this summer, my dad gave me my grandmother’s diary from 1943. It’s small and fits in the palm of my hand. Rather than a journal used to document one’s thoughts and feelings, this diary was used to jot down the events of the day. My grandmother did just that, writing down what she did each day the year of 1943. And what stood out to me the most is the mundane nature of life, even in the midst of war, even while waiting for news from my grandfather. Mundane things like: cooking, cleaning, and ironing, walking down to the country store for groceries (they didn’t own a car and even after they did, my grandmother never learned to drive), going to the beauty parlor, visiting with family and friends, worshipping at church, and signing up new Army recruits at the local schoolhouse.

And writing letters each day to my grandfather—many of which we still have.

As I read through the diary, through the lists of tasks and activities accomplished each day, it reminded me how much of life is filled with mundane duties and tasks. Everyday things. Errands and chores. Necessary duties of life.

Even while waiting. Even in the midst of crisis.

I tend to freeze in the face of uncertainty. I tend to push pause until I know what the future holds. I tend to zero in on the crisis and forget everything else. But life is made up of daily acts of faithfulness. Of doing what needs to be done. Of living out our callings each day. We don’t know what the future holds. We are called to glorify God this day. We are called to live for him and his glory in all that we do, even in the daily, everyday activities of life (1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:17).

In the spring of 1943, my grandmother wrote that she planted a garden in the yard. Growing up, my grandparents always had a garden. To this day, the best watermelon I’ve tasted came from their backyard. The act of planting a garden is one of sowing seeds of hope. The gardener does not know what will come of those seeds. She does not even know if she will be there come the harvest. She plants them anyway and each day tends to that garden. Whatever the weather or circumstances, she waters and pulls weeds and checks for harmful insects. In our own lives, we too need to till the soil of life, plant seeds, water them, and wait for God to produce the fruit. Whether we are looking for a job, laboring for restoration in a relationship, or praying for a crisis to come to an end, we need to do the daily work of life—all to the glorify God.

My grandmother’s little journal from 1943 challenged me in 2020 to remember that whatever I am waiting for, whatever the unknown future holds, whatever crisis surrounds me, I need to continue forward, doing the next thing, for the glory of God.

All Women are Working Women

The way we view work in our culture is interesting. How we spend the hours of our day defines us. We meet new people and ask, “What do you do?” They answer, “I am a ______.” Whatever we put in that blank defines us.

Not only that, but the work we do is valued based on the level of education it requires, how far we’ve advanced in our profession, and how much we earn doing that job. There’s a hierarchy of sorts, making certain kinds of work more important than others.

Since I was in middle school, I knew I wanted to help people. I remember volunteering at our local crisis pregnancy center, helping the director with various tasks and thinking, “I want a job like this one day.” And I worked hard to that end, both in my educational pursuits and in my work in the counseling field.

When my oldest son was born, we decided it would be best for our family that I stay home with him. I had to admit, as much as I believed in that decision, it was equally hard for me. My identity was wrapped up in my work. I struggled with taking on my new role as “stay at home mom.” Even now, when I attend classes and workshops to stay up to date on what is happening in the counseling field, I often stumble through introducing myself to others in the class, as everyone else introduces themselves by the work they do.

But when I think about it, I do a lot of work in my day and I labor hard at what I do. Some of it is mundane repetitive work such as that of maintaining a home: paying bills, sweeping and mopping, washing dishes. Other work involves investing in the minds and hearts of my children through discipleship and homeschooling. As a church member, I serve in discipleship ministry and host a small group in my home. As a seminary student, I learn and study. I serve my denomination in my role as editor and as Regional Adviser on the national women’s ministry team. I also labor in my writing and speaking ministry.

Whether I get paid for it or not, I am a working woman.

Because of the way our society views work, and the value it places on certain kinds of work, it is tempting to do the same in our lives as women. It’s tempting to think that mundane work isn’t important. It’s tempting to think that time spent investing in the heart of another person is wasted time. It’s tempting to think that only income producing work is valuable. But we need to remember that all things done for the glory of God is never wasted. All work that is done for God’s sake is good work, whether anyone sees it or not.

Your efforts to cook a healthy meal for your family is important work. The time you spend mentoring that college student is an eternal and valuable investment. The work you do behind the scenes that no one notices or people take for granted is important work. The job you faithfully go to each day, even though it’s not your dream job, is honoring to the Lord. While your work may not be glamorous or valuable to the world’s eyes, while you may not receive payment for your labors or the pay you receive isn’t much to write home about, it is valuable to the Lord.

All our work is valuable because of the work Christ completed for us. His holy, perfect, and righteous work of obeying the law on our behalf was given to us. “Because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). His sacrificial work at the cross paid the penalty that we were due. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Even now, he labors for us before the throne and intercedes for us (see Rom. 8:34).

Jesus’s work reshapes our own work and makes it holy. His work paves the way for all the work that we do—the seen and the unseen, the mundane and the spectacular, the boring and the interesting, the easy and the hard. Because of the work that Christ did for us, all our work is done through him and for him. Because we are united to him by faith, God looks at all our efforts and labors and doesn’t see our failures, mistakes, blunders, and sins, but sees Jesus’s perfect work on our behalf. Jesus’s righteous work for us makes all the work we do valuable. This is good news for working women!

And God promises that our efforts to labor in his name will one day reap a harvest:

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Gal. 6:8–10)

So whether you work in the home or outside the home, whether your work is exciting and glamorous or boring and mundane, whether you receive pay for your work or not, know that your work is valuable in the sight of God. May we as Christian women labor hard to the glory of God because of the work our Savior has done for us.

*This post is inspired by Sufficient Hope: Gospel Meditations and Prayers for Moms.

A Prayer for the Work of Motherhood

Years ago, I spent months working on a book proposal. Various friends then spent weeks helping me to edit it. And then it was rejected by more publishers than I care to recount. Since then, it has remained tucked away in the depths of my computer files— and, if it were possible, collecting dust.

One of the hardest things about writing is when something that you write isn’t used. When I spend hours crafting just the right sentence, when I’ve woven my heart and soul into each paragraph of a work, and it is never read, it makes all the time, effort, and energy seem like a waste. It’s disheartening and discouraging.

But writing isn’t the only thing I put energy into that no one sees. Countless things that I work on throughout the day go unnoticed by those around me. The laundry that I fold and put away. The items that I pick up off the floor and return to their rightful places. The time and effort that I pour into my children’s hearts and spiritual growth. My intercessory prayers for God to be at work in them. Decisions and choices that I make for the benefit of those around me. The time and effort that I sacrifice in order to serve and provide. When I don’t see the fruit of that work, sometimes I grow weary and wonder, Is it worth it?

Motherhood is filled with repetitive duties: changing diapers, making lunches, teaching and re-teaching our children the same lessons. Not to mention taking our kids to the pediatrician, making sure they have clothes and shoes that fit for their first day back at school, and keeping track of who needs to go where and when. It’s hard to clean up a mess of toys and know that we’ll just have to do it again in a few hours. It’s often disheartening to know that the discussions we have with our children about kindness and sharing with others will have to be reviewed again and again before they sink in. Sometimes we get to the end of a day and feel like nothing of significance has been accomplished. We’ve worked hard—but what do we have to show for it?

Here’s an important truth to remember: God sees our labors on behalf of our children and family. He never misses our efforts or takes them for granted. He knows all the mundane tasks and repeated duties we have performed. And when we labor for him, he is glorified. That’s because we were created for a purpose: to glorify God and enjoy him forever, as the Westminster Catechisms tell us. This is what we are called to do, in all things big and small—in the important and the seemingly unimportant. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31)

All our work—whether we leave the house in the morning to go to work or work out of an office in our home or stay home to care for our children—is done for God’s glory and fame, not our own. It’s done not for the praise or accolades of our boss or our children but for the sake of our Savior. Our hearts’ posture is for Christ to be known—not ourselves. We want his name to be magnified throughout the earth—not our names. When our work goes unnoticed, when our children seem indifferent to our labors on their behalf, when we do the same mind-numbing tasks over and over and wonder why it even matters, we need to remember for whom we toil. We live to honor and magnify the One who made us and saved us.

All our work matters to God.

A Gospel Prayer for the Work of Motherhood

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:58)

Father in heaven,

I come to you, in prayer, exhausted from my labors. I don’t even know what I have accomplished. I know that I met my children’s needs. I know that I labored on behalf of my family. I know that I checked a few things off my to-do list—but then a few more things were added, too. But some days, my work for my children and family seems so monotonous. I repeat the same instructions over and over. I intervene in the same squabbles. I do the same task that I know I’ll have do again before the day is done. It’s hard to think that this work matters—that my efforts make a difference.

But then I remember that you see all things. You know all things. You see and know all my labors—the big and small. Forgive me for forgetting that. Forgive me for living as though I work for the praise and affirmation of others, rather than for you and your glory. Forgive me for wanting to be seen by others rather than rejoicing that I am known and seen by the Maker of the universe.

I thank you for the work that Jesus did on my behalf. I thank you that all his work redeems my work and makes it holy. I thank you that you look at me and see Jesus’s perfect life. I thank you for the Spirit’s work in me that makes me more like Christ.

Help me each day as I nurture, teach, disciple, and care for the eternal souls you have given me. Help me to work hard. Help me to labor for your honor and praise. Help me to reflect you in my labors to my children and to others who see me. Help me not to grow discouraged or to give up in my labors. I pray that you would use my work to bear rich fruit for your kingdom. Strengthen and sustain me by your grace.

In Jesus’s name, amen.

Note: This post is a modified excerpt from my forthcoming book: Sufficient Hope: Gospel Meditations and Prayers for Moms, available for pre-order now.

Want to join the launch team and get access to the book before it’s released? Click here to join the FB page for the launch team.

Your Time is Not Your Own

C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters contains a series of letters written by a demon to his nephew, advising him on how to go about tempting and deceiving his charges on earth. The book helps readers consider the myriad of ways in which evil forces work to keep us distracted from the truth of who God is and what He has done.

In one letter, Screwtape, the uncle, encourages his nephew, Wormwood, to morally assault his charge by darkening his intellect. One way to do this was to “zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption ‘My time is my own.’”

Screwtape asserted that people often grow angry when they feel that their time has been stolen from them. He encouraged Wormwood to “let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to his religious duties. But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright.”

The Passage of Time

Time is a unique thing. Unlike money, we can’t accumulate it or multiply it. Unlike other things we attempt to control, we can’t hold it back, slow it down, or stop it. Time continues to move forward at the same rate, every second, minute, hour, and day of our life. It’s the same for everyone; we all use up an equivalent amount of time each day...

To read the rest of this post, visit Revive Our Hearts.

Identity in Changing Seasons

Who am I? 

This is a question I've been asking myself lately. I knew who I was where we used to live. But who am I now in this new place? This new community? This new church? Who am I now that my kids need me less and less with each passing year?

Who am I?

This is a question I've asked myself numerous times in my life. When I was a teen, I asked myself this question as I looked at the other teens around me and wondered: "Who am I if I don't play sports? Who am I when everyone is categorized by what they wear, where they live, who they date, and what they look like? Who am I when I don't fit in anywhere?"

The question returned when I was newly married and I attempted to navigate the challenging questions: "Who am I as a married woman? Is my identity wrapped up in who I am married to and how good a wife I am?"

When we decided I would stop working as a counselor to stay home with our children, I wondered: "Who am I now that I can't identify myself by my work? What does it mean to be a stay-at-home mom? What happens to those gifts and skills God has given me, do they just get buried in with the pile of laundry that never dissipates?"

I know that around the corner lies even more questions, like "Who am I now that the kids are out of the house and on their own? Who am I when I can't get around like I used to? Who am I when I need other people to do things for me that I used to do for myself?"

A Secure Identity

Throughout my life, the responsibilities, roles, jobs, and commitments I make will change. They will come and go. What I do with my time in one decade will likely be different in the next. My identity can't be rooted in those things. Even a role as important as motherhood can't be how I define myself. It can't be what I rest in to give my life meaning. Because what happens when the house is empty and I'm no longer needed?  

Though I'm prone to forget, Scripture tells me who I am. It gives me an enduring meaning and purpose. It's something that will not change no matter what changes in my life or in the world around me. It won't change with my age or the season of life I am in. It won't change whether I live in this town or in another. It's not effected by what I do but it does inform what I do.

When God spoke this world into existence, He created mankind. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were made to image God. "Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:26-27). They were given responsibility to rule over the world God had made as His representatives. They imaged Him in their work, in their creativity, in their rest. They glorified Him in their obedience, in their relationship with one another, and in their enjoyment of being in His presence.

Then they fell into sin. They defied the one thing God told them they couldn't do. Because Adam was our representative, his action had an effect on all of us. When he fell, we all fell. We all inherit our sin nature from him. Yet even before God announced the curses upon Adam and Eve, He prefaced it with this promise, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).

Jesus is the Second Adam, the one who perfectly obeyed, and the fulfillment of that promise in Genesis 3:15. That's because He is God incarnate. "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3). Through faith in Christ and His perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection, we are united to Him and are adopted into God's family. Christ's obedience is given to us. Because He obeyed in our place, because we are united to Him by faith, God looks at us and accepts us. He has given us the gift of His Spirit who is even now at work in us, conforming us into the image of Christ. 

We were created as image bearers and made to reflect God's glory. Though the image was broken by the Fall, through our adoption into the family of God, we are now redeemed image bearers. That's our identity. We are "in Christ." We now live to bring Him glory. The Westminster Confession tells us that our primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That was Adam and Eve's purpose in the Garden and through Christ, we are enabled to once again to live out that purpose and identity.

When I wonder who I am in the various contexts and seasons of life, I have to remember this truth: I am in Christ. Whatever changes take place throughout the seasons of my life, whatever new experiences I face, I remain a child of God. I am united with Christ; I bear His image in this world. This identity gives shape to how I do the jobs, roles, and tasks God gives me. This identity informs what it looks like for me to be a wife, mother, friend, and co-worker. It defines how I serve and love others, and even how I live out the final years of my life. This identity is always with me and will be with me into eternity. "You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:15-17).

So who am I? I am in Christ. I am God's own. I am an image bearer created to glorify and enjoy my Maker.