​I am absolutely stunned about how large a pumpkin can grow from such a small seed buried deep within the ground.

 

What is true for the pumpkin is also true for the believer, that seeds sown into our lives through our relationship with the Lord can produce a harvest far beyond what we could ever imagine. Part of the harvest that the Lord promises us is peace, a peace within us that flows to others. Galatians 5:22, Hebrews 12:11 and James 3:17-18. So if the Lord promises peace, then why do so many of us find that we don’t have it?

​ Have you ever been around people that seem to rob you of peace? Conversely, have you been around people that seem to increase your sense of well being? I have a mentor who leaves me with an overwhelming sense of wholeness after I have been with her. She is incredibly humble, authentic, pure, honest, loving and kind. She has taught me a great deal about peace as she has experienced both a fruitless and an abundant harvest of peace in her journey with the Lord. She explains…

A Fruitless Harvest ​Home magazines draw us into idyllic pictures of family life where laughter and enjoyable times are the order of the day. These images can help form our belief that if we don’t have peace within our ourselves or our families the problem is with our physical environment. Subconsciously we can buy into the lie that if “I just had a home like that” all would be well. “If I can just make things like the images I see,” “ if I can just keep that peace between family members then I can have the peace I seek.” Ultimately these efforts never bring us the peace and can actually become stumbling blocks to the very peace we seek. This thinking often produces weeds of perfectionism and control that can choke out true peace.

A Bountiful Harvest ​Jesus himself tells us how to have a bountiful harvest of peace. “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear." Matt 13:8-9 What is this good soil that Jesus refers to? It is a life where we seek to daily follow the Lord. Jesus gives us a picture of this kind of life. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5-6 My friend explained how these principles worked in her own life. She found that her control and her perfectionism actually drove her into a pit of depression and when she literally could do nothing for herself she turned to the Lord. Though she has been a Christian for years at this point of despair, she had never sought to bring the Lord into every aspect of her life. The Lord met her in this pit; he met her with understanding, grace, love, gentleness and kindness. He is showing her a new way of life, a life letting go of constant striving and replacing this with the gifts the Lord has for her each day. A new way of life; a more gentle way to take care of herself and others. A life where her burden is light and she can find rest for her soul. Matt. 11:29 A life where her Lord gives her peace. John 14:27