Those Who Sow in Tears
I did a podcast recently in which I recounted all the wonderful things the LORD did for my son and family during my son’s hospital stay at the onset of his illness. I talked about God’s goodness and faithfulness and the miraculous things He did on my son’s behalf that still have us in awe. It was one of the most difficult seasons our family has ever had to experience. And in it, we saw God show up in amazing ways.
Some, after hearing the podcast, have commented on the greatness of my faith and have expressed a desire to experience God move for them in such wondrous ways. As I’ve been processing these responses, I am moved to reply that it was not any “greatness” about me/my family or anything special about our faith that resulted in our experience with God. Everyday we just tried our best to take God at His Word and keep doing the next thing that was in front of us. It was hard and often scary because we knew we could make a wrong call that could result in greater suffering for our son. We felt uncertain and ill-equipped. Every. Single. Day. While the recounting of God’s faithfulness is glorious, the actual experience felt anything but.
As I recall our experiences during that hard, miraculous season, I am reminded of a promise I love that’s found at the end of Psalm 126: “Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.” (vs. 5; HCSB) The promise comes after the psalmist has recounted a time in the past when the LORD had shown up so powerfully for the people of God that their “mouths were filled with laughter” and their “tongues with shouts of joy.” The LORD had done “great things for them” and they were joyful.
The psalm then transitions from that joy-filled remembrance of God’s graciousness to a request for God to show up in that way again in the present circumstances of His people. Because they remembered God’s goodness to them in times past, the people of God were able to look with expectancy for His goodness to them in the future. They knew that if they sowed “in tears” they would “reap with shouts of joy.” That was the promise.
What were they to sow? We find out in the very next verse - “Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” (Psalm 126:6 NIV) They were to sow seed, which Luke 8:11 tells us is the Word of God.
So, what does that look like - what does it mean for us to sow the Word of God in tears so that we can reap a harvest of joy? Well, for us it meant to apply what the Word said to our actual situation - even when it was scary, or we didn’t quite understand why, or when we had to do so in tears. In our desperation for God to move, we did, to the best of our ability and understanding, what the Word said to do. And God showed up.
I know from experience how easy it can be sometimes to read or hear the Word, and to be moved by it as we nod our heads in agreement with it - but still not DO what it says to DO. And then we wonder why we’re not seeing the promised results. For so many promises in Scripture, there’s often a part we have to play before God plays His. In this case, we have to SOW the Word - that is, we have to do what it says, in the midst of our suffering or hardship - IN tears. (Sowing our tears is not enough. We also have to do what God says.) It is after we’ve done that - for however long it takes - that God will show up and we will reap with shouts of joy.
So, may I encourage you, as you listen to others recount the “great things” the LORD has done for them, to remember that what He promised to them also applies to you. If you go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, you WILL return with songs of joy. Amen!
Please share - how have you experienced this promise from God in your own life?