is that a lisp?

we've all heard reap what you sow, but weep what you sow? those tears water the prayers you plan with God. Plant in tears, reap in Joy psalm 126:1-6

Growing up, I remember hearing a lot of adults frequently using the term "reap what you sow". I didn't know or realize it at the time, but it was always in an "I-told-you-so" kind of way:

"Sally just can't seem to get those kids to school without a screaming match, but I told her stop letting them stay up so late; 'you reap what you sow'".
"Can you believe Jake got fired from his job?" "Well he showed up late all the time, you know what they say..."

"you reap what you sow"

How I heard the expression, the context it was in- it never seemed encouraging. Or even good. 

Fast forward and I found a church that I got saved in. Reap what you sow suddenly struck a chord because when I heard it, I had a natural response to it. The teaching, expression and context, though, drastically changed. All of a sudden "reap what you sow" was meant to help explain that living outside of God's will for us can result in some less-than-desirable outcomes. When we ARE living within the boundaries God has set for us, things are more fruitful. They aren't always yippee skippee, but they're fruitful. 

I slowly started to change my response to that saying, and over time, I learned that it could be both a loving correction from our Father as well as encouragement to do right by God! That was a huge breakthrough for me! I was excited about this, and felt like I was able to connect with God and be more humble in my self reflection. 

PJ (Pastor Jeff if you're new here) was teaching one morning, and although I was caffeinated and engaged in what he was saying, I suddenly found myself questioning everything when I thought I had missed his lisp! 

No, PJ doesn't have a lisp. He just changed course a little quick, and shared Psalm 126 with us. Verses 5 and 6 are what made me question reality for a hot second, but when I came to, I was blessed with an entirely new perspective. 

It was the ever-evolving expression, making a guest appearance to, once again, blow my mind. 

Growing up, church and salvation (a word rarely mentioned) seemed to be pretty "works based". For those of you who don't know what that means, to sum it up quick, you can do good stuff and be nice enough and that'll get you into Heaven. (False, a relationship with Jesus is the ONLY ticket. Peep John 14:6) So, if you wanted to go to Heaven, and be "good", you had to go out and DOOOOO good stuff. You had to be stoic and have it together. If you fell apart, you would "reap what you sowed", and you'd therefore have a mess. 

But when I heard him read this and then follow up with his own adage of "you weep what you sow"... (that's when where I thought he had a lisp) I felt like Hagar. SEEN.

5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.   

Those workers were out there DOING the sowing; they were being obedient, trust His plans... but if they had sadness, grief, mourning or any heavy-heartedness, they felt safe and secure to pour those tears out to the Lord.

6Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

 Thank you to the psalmist for just driving that truth home. Friend, we may walk out into that field with a heavy heart and hot tears burning down your cheeks; BUT GOD. When we return to reap what we've sown, we're reminded we will return with JOY! 

When PJ said "weep what you sow", it gave me the permission I was- with pride- withholding to be honest with God. He knew my heart before I did, so it wasn't any surprise to Him. But I know that He loves when I come to Him honestly, wholly, and sincerely. No holding back. I suddenly found myself approaching the yoke, eagerly ready to be attached. Things didn't seem as heavy; and I'm talking about the HEAVY stuff. Today there's some major life events taking place. As I type actually. I'm covered in prayer, I'm completely at peace with these things, but I am still grieving circumstances. The tears I shed for the unknown aren't tears of fear or worry or unease. They are tears of sadness and hurt and heartbreak; they flow because God wants to hold me while I hurt. I am SAFE with Him. It's the one place I can go broken, and leave divinely restored. 

YOU are the 1 He left the 99 for. What are you holding back from God? He's waiting with open arms to hear it from you!