16th October 2022 Infill Service - Yasmin Chaffer - Waiting for Harvest time

Our heavenly Father has lavished great love on me, and I am a child

of God. That's an example of speaking the truth of God's word over yourself.

Or thank you, Father, God for lavishing such great love on me.

Thank you Father God for loving me so much that you chose me to

be a child of yours. I belong. That's an example of praying scripture

over yourself. And the point of regularly speaking scriptures over ourselves and praying scripture

based prayer is that it helps the truth of it to take root in our

hearts. It'll change us from the inside out. It'll also be there when

we need it in unexpected situations, in challenges, and also wisdom for others

in normal conversation. For example, I remember once someone emailing me who was

worried because she'd had an inconclusive medical test. I don't remember whether it was

a smear test, get a breast scanned because of a lump. It was

one of the other or one or the other, but whatever it was,

she was told to go back for another test in a few weeks time,

and she was worried. She wasn't a Christian, but she knew that I

was, and I woke back and said, the Bible says that worrying won't

add a single hour to your life Luke twelve, verse twenty five. It

might well be fine. Don't assume the worst, but regardless, worrying won't

change it. Give yourself a treat, do something nice to yourself. Then

try not to think about it because it won't change anything. And I will

pray. I was at work at the time. I obviously didn't have time

to pray about it, albeit extremely briefly before responding. But this was a

verse that I just knew. I'm not saying that God can't bring to mind

scriptures that maybe you don't even know. But as Jesus said in Luke six

point forty five, out of the abundance of your heart us and speaks,

or as it says in the New Living Translation, what you say flows from

what is in your heart. The person really thank me for this wisdom and

said they would do that and praise God happily. The second test was negative.

But this is just a really simple example of the benefit of having scriptures

rooted in your heart that you can just draw on us required. So back

to James five and verse seven. Therefore, Brothers, dearly beloved brothers,

if we knew how much, if we fully knew how much God loved us,

if we had complete and perfect revelation of how much God loves us and

who God is, how do you think it would perfect our ability to wait

patiently whatever we're waiting for. Think of even just one way it might change

our attitude whilst we're waiting, For example, how peaceful we might be.

Therefore, Brothers, dearly beloved, be patient until the Lord's coming. As

this verse references the Lord's return, even though it's not the subject of today's

message, I will briefly say this, the recipients of this letter perhaps lived

more consciously aware of the return of the Lord than most of us do.

I say that because it's what James refers them to as their focal point to

help to anchor them to deal patiently with their challenges. What do you use

as a focal point to help to guide you to focus you as you're dealing

with whatever you're dealing with right now? Whether life is good, challenging,

or a real mix of both, we all need something to keep us focused

on what the Lord is saying. Maybe he's given you a verse or versus

specific to your situation, where across them whilst you spent time reading the Bible

and they've left off the page that you so to speak, or someone has

given you a prophetic word, whatever, it might be something for you to

hold on tea. For example, my husband Simon, and I were watching

a TV program recently. It's fictional and it's set in the nineteen forties and

the land girls the women who worked on farms whilst the men were at war,

and they were explaining to someone how they plowed the fields in the dark

because there wasn't enough daylight. And they said they hung a lantern at each

end of the field and use that to guide them. They just focused on

that so they could plow in a straight line. That's what I'm talking about.

When you can't see where you're going, what verses are you using to

guide you, to help you stay focused on what the Lord is saying,

or even just to keep you going day afterday James five, verse seven.

Therefore, brothers, dearly beloved, be patient until the Lord's coming. The

Lord's return was the hope that James was using the focal point to help anchor

those who would hear his letter those Jewish believers in Christ who had fled abroad

due to persecution. There are a number of verses in the Bible which very

specifically tell us that Jesus is coming back. For example, one Fessaloni is

fourth and verse sixteen, and I'm reading from the Tree of Life version,

which is a Messianic Jewish translation for the Lord himself shall come down from heaven

with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the blast

of God's show far his trumpet, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first.

We all have stuff that we have to deal with now, which can

be unexciting, things which can be challenging, and also hopefully times when we

enjoy ourselves. So it's important that we don't allow our circumstances, good,

bad, or indifferent to distract us from the truth that the Lord will return

and live accordingly, learn to live more and more dependent on the truth of

his word and conscious of his presence, his love, and his provision.

Jesus' return is one of those non negotiables. It's going to happen, whether

people believe it, pray for it or not. It reminds me a little

bit of playing hide and seek when we were children, except that we called

it lurky where I came from, and I really don't know why. For

those listening from other parts of the world who are perhaps not as familiar with

the game, there are different variations. But the one that we played was

that the child who was on closed their eyes and counted to a hundred,

whilst the others had to run and hide, and that once they'd counted to

one hundred, they'd call out coming ready or not, and then they would

go and hunt the other children who had to try and get back to the

base before the person who was on, and so they wouldn't be caught out.

That Jesus will come back whether we're ready or not, and it's not

a game. There's more about that in Matthew twenty five in the Parable of

the Ten Virgins with the Lamps about being ready for Jesus return. But the

Lord didn't want me to go into that today. So back to our verse

James five and verse seven, which I am expecting you to all know off

by heart by the end of it. Therefore, brothers, be patient until

the Lord's coming. See how the Lord, how the farmer waits for the

precious fruit of the earth, the valuable harvest, and is patient with it

until it receives the early and the late reigns. Therefore, brothers be patient

until the Lord's coming. The context here, then is about being patient whilst

enduring trials and challenges. We're encouraged to stay patient, like a farmer's patient,

waiting for the harvest and waiting for the conditions to be right the rains

to come to bring on the harvest at the right time. That word patient

in the Greek macrothemeo is about patiently, enduring, being long, suffering,

slow to anger and take offense. Patience is not only about being patients in

the midst of trying circumstances, but also with people and with ourselves. I

do find it sad when people call themselves an idiot and are impatient with themselves

just because they've made a mistake. If it's appropriate, I will say,

you're not an idiot. You just made a mistake, that's all. That

doesn't make you an idiot. It's so important that we remember to be patient,

not only with others, but also with ourselves, especially in trying times.

It's worth noting in the well known passage about what love is in One

Corinthians, chapter thirteen. The first aspect of it that's mentioned in verse four

is love is patient. It's the same great word for patient used here Macrothimeo.

Therefore, I don't think it's stretching a point to say that this verse

in James is exhorting us to live a life of love whilst we're waiting,

whilst things are tough, whilst we're standing on God's promises by faith and awaiting

the harvest. So to speak. The more we practice patients, the more

we practice love when we don't see the end in sight, and patience is

a challenge. It's worth remembering something I heard of preachers say recently. He

quoted Psalm ninety one and verse one, and I'm reading from the New King

James version at Psalm ninety one, verse one, he who dwells in the

secret place the presence of the Most High, shall abide or live under the

shadow of the Almighty. This guy referred to a devotional by Corey Temboom,

who was a lady who lived with her father and sister in Holland, and

they were all devout Christians who hid Jews and members of the Dutch resistance from

the Nazis during World War II, they were betrayed, which led to their

arrest and suffering concentration camps. As told in her amazing book The Hiding Place,

Cory survived. Her sister died just days before Cory was released. In

a devotional Cory said about this verse Psal ninety one, verse one, Sometimes

it's dark because God is so close. Sometimes we interpret the moment we're in

through our natural eyes instead of through the eyes of scripture. So people who

turn their effects their faces towards the abiding presence of God. Those people live

in a place where even when it's dark, it's only a testimony of His

nearness. It's so important to ask the Lord to help us to understand what

we perceive as darkness, what moment we're in. I want to just briefly

say that abiding in the shadow of the Almighty, living more consciously aware of

the living God who is Love, is not about striving but surrender. The

Lord doesn't want me to say more about that now, but I thought it

was really important to make that point. James five and verse seven. The

farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, the valuable harvest being patient

with it until it receives the early and the late reigns. The farmer waits.

A friend recently sent me something which included this quote by Halford E Luckuk,

who I had never heard of, but was an American Methodist minister who

lived in the late from the late nineteenth century to the mid twentieth century.

He said, no one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to

play it. I think that's so good. No one can whistle a symphony,

it takes an orchestra to play it. We all have a part to

play in God's symphony. It's important that we all value the part that both

we and others play in the same way that God does. But the point

of fair mentioning that quote is that in a symphony there are times when certain

sections of an orchestra may pause, for example, stringed instruments, percussions,

et cetera, but they continue to read the music. Why because they need

to remain alert to what is going on, to where they are in the

piece and be ready to play their part at the right time. But for

a period, however short or long, they don't play. They've not been

discarded or rejected their part. Their gifts are not devalued in any way.

They just need to pause and wait for their time to play again. It's

important that we remember that whilst we're waiting for our harvest time, or if

we feel like God has put us on pause. Who does the waiting?

The farmer, a very active, busy person who has to learn to wait

and wait well, being patient with it the crop. Joyce Meyer, a

Christian American author and speaker, says this about James five and verse seven.

Patience is not just the ability to wait, it's the ability to keep a

good attitude whilst we're waiting. In the classic amplified version, it says James

five, verse seven doesn't say to be patient if you wait, It says

to be patient as you wait. Waiting is part of life. Many people

do not wait well, and yet we actually spend more time in our lives

waiting than we do receiving. Ask God to help you to wait well.

James five, verse seven. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the

earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.

There's a rainy season in Israel. As I understand it, Judea's early

autumn rains fell in October and November. The winter rains, roughly three quarters

of the year's rainfall, fell from December to mid February, but the late

rains of March and April were especially essential for the main grains and grain harvests.

I have no idea of whether the patterns have changed since in Israel,

which is why I'm referring to it in the past. The first rain of

the season, the early rain, is called the uray. This rain softens

the soil and signals the time for the farmers to plow their land. The

winter rainfall was essential for the growth of the crops, and the late rains

in spring, called the malcoche, calls the ripening of the crops. The

summer months were dry. It's all in the preparation. How many of us

have heard that that can be applied to diy, to decorating your room,

to so many different areas of life, And it's so clearly illustrated here.

A good harvest was dependent, amongst other things, upon good preparation, watching,

waiting, and being ready for action when the time was right to plow

the land, to sow the seed, etc. There's a part that only

God can do provide the rain at the right time, and there's a part

that we can do plow the land, sow the seed, and so on.

Apparently, there's a Chinese proverb that says, a man who waits for

roast duck to fly in his mouth must wait a very, very long time.

We need to take responsibility for what's ours to do in whatever our situations,

and pray and trust God to do that which only he can do.

Harvest time is a busy time when you're waiting and waiting during the so called

winter months, when you're standing on God's word for whatever it is and haven't

yet seen the harvest or what you're believing for. It can be hard,

but like the farmer, think about what you can be doing in the meantime

whilst you're waiting us Well, this time can be extremely fruitful doing things you

maybe won't have time or as much time for once your harvest is in.

Maybe you could be helping others whatever it is. Ask the Lord if you

don't know, even for just one thing you could be doing whilst you're waiting

for your harvest. One article on the Internet entitled what your farmer does in

winter said. While these seasons of planting, maintaining, and harvesting crops are

visibly hectic and consuming, the more barren months are a necessary time for planning

and preparing for the next successful season. If this is winter for you,

so to speak, maybe you're praying, believing, and waiting for God.

This is potentially time that could be well spent planning and preparing for the next

season in your life. Don't get down that it's not all happening for you

right now. This is preparation time, but you won't get back. Ask

the Lord to help you to use it well. Harvest time is a busy

time. Proverbs six and verse six tells us to consider the ant whilst it

addresses a lazy person. This is what it says in the message version.

Look at an ant. This is Probabs six six to eight. Look at

an ant. Watch it closely. Let it teach you a singorty. Nobody

has to tell it what to do. All summer. It stores up food.

At harvest, it stockpiles provisions. I don't know if you've ever considered

ants. I have. I was in Costa Eca one summer years ago,

and I came to a path in a fairly wooded area, and I didn't

look closely enough at why this path was dark. It was literally covered in

ants and bigger ones than we have typically in the UK. I was only

on the path for a few seconds and they started running up my shoes and

my legs, and it was really gross. I was off the path like

a shot and brushed off these ants, and after that I was a lot

more mindful of their whereabouts. However, according to the Bible, we can

learn from this brainless little insect. How come because God made it? So

what can we learn from the ant? Just two thoughts? Team work and

diligence. What would you say is a key factor in good teamwork communication?

I only looked at it very briefly, but found five ways that ants communicate

with each other. Scent smelling pheromones through their antenna, through which they communicate

many things, including where food is located, also through touch, body language,

and sound, as well as through sharing food mouth to mouth. I

was actually thinking they communicate a lot like us until I got to that last

one, and so are clearly great at sharing information so that, amongst other

things, they can stop how provisions at harvest time for all to share later.

Just a thought on this. If harvest time is a busy time for

you and you need help with it, this highlight the importance of communicating it,

sharing the need with others, as well as of course praying for the

Lord to provide help. I was only talking to someone recently who was sharing

about how both she and her daughter find it difficult asking for help. They're

both quite happy to give it, but receiving it they find much much harder,

as I think many of us do. Antswer among the most highly organized

organisms in nature. Every ant has an assigned task, and the entire colony

works together as one living creature to keep the colony alive, protected and fed.

Their insects tend to be geared towards working together, whilst God clearly designed

nature with survival in mind. This instinct to work together. As a good

example for us, Scout aunts will head out from the nest to find a

food source and then use various means to let the rest of the colony know

where this food sources. So some ants have different roles to play, as

we do in church life as well as our personal lives. It's how we

work together that matters, especially when different people are going through different seasons in

life. I've long been intrigued to by this verse to consider the ant and

wanted to look at it. So I'm really pleased I've had an excuse to

do so today I've satisfied that urge. So in closing, to briefly summarize,

firstly, remember that you are much loved by God. And secondly,

be patient with others and yourself whilst you're going through challenges, whilst you're standing

in God's promises by faith like a farmer awaiting your harvest. And I'll finish

with prophetically for one person, I'm saying this to you Song of Songs,

chapter two, verses eleven to twelve A. And I'm reading from the NIV

that Song of Songs, chapter two, versus eleven to twelve. And I

know this is for someone. See the winter is past, the rains are

over and gone, flowers appear on the earth. The season of singing has

come. Thank you,