From Manure to Harvest

We’ve rehearsed this truth plenty of times: Life is hard. And it is. Life is hard. Your flesh wages war inside of you, you have an Enemy constantly lying to you, and we live in a shattered world with broken people who cut our hearts and souls. Chances are you’re going through something hard right now, or perhaps just went through something. And while there are seasons of plenty, there are also seasons of little, or nothing, or of the locusts eating the fruit we had in the time of plenty.

But what if we shift our perspective some? What if that hard thing the Enemy is speaking to your soul about, saying, “God is not good,” “God doesn’t care,” what if the problem that feels overwhelming and hard, what if the “hardship of life” is actually the manure that, indeed does smell foul when it is laid, but is producing a harvest far beyond your imagination? Far beyond what “non-suffering” can bring for you and others?

Said plainly, what if God is moving through your suffering in ways you can’t see or understand? What if there’s a harvest on the backside of the suffering that can only be produced through your suffering? Thankfully, we don’t have to “what if” this question! For the Christian, the testimony of Scripture is that God is in fact doing this! We just have to choose to trust and believe Him in this promise.

Spurgeon’s “Curse”

When I was in college someone handed me a Charles Spurgeon commentary on the Psalms. Having not grown up in church, I honestly had no idea who he was. However, at the very beginning of that commentary I was struck by Spurgeon’s introduction:

I felt the Spirit plaster those words onto my heart, though it would take me years to figure out why. Honestly, it just sounded like some dude who loved preaching more than writing!

Charles Spurgeon was coined the “Prince of Preachers,” and was one of the most dynamic communicators of the 19^th Century (and now one of my personal heroes!). Had Spurgeon not been sick, it’s unlikely he would have written. He likely would have simply preached more since he loved preaching (and with a title like the “Prince of Preachers,” was clearly gifted!) and viewed it as more effective than writing.

As dynamic of a preacher he was though, because he preached before recording devices, if he had not written, we would only be left with stories of his communicative power. And we would have far less tangible evidence today of the way the Spirit used him.

What Spurgeon saw then as an almost curse, a thorn in the flesh, was perhaps God’s blessing for us! His commentary aided me throughout college and still blesses me to date! Sickness and momentary suffering led to Spurgeon’s confessed dependency and deeper love for God, but it also led to my ability to be encouraged decades later in a way I wouldn’t have been otherwise. 

What if God does indeed allow things that seem like curses to become some of the biggest blessings for others (2 Co. 1:4) and for yourself (2 Co. 12:7)?  Do you trust that God truly does love you, desires good for you and for others, and uses things for His good and glory and for the redemption of His people (Gen. 50:20, Rom. 8:28, etc.)? What if the thing you consider a curse, a punishment from God… what if it is the exact opposite?

My Personal Vocal Frustrations

Over the past several months I’ve had some pretty serious vocal issues - a pretty big concern for someone like me who, like Spurgeon, loves preaching and feel called by God to do this very thing! I was reminded, as I complained about my vocal cords to the Lord, of Spurgeon’s note.

Almost two decades after first seeing this note, I was struck again. What if this is one of God’s 23 ways that He’s trying to tell me to begin writing? Maybe. Or, maybe it’s spiritual warfare. Maybe it is to make me depend on God more. Maybe it is 70 things at once (which is normally how God moves!).

I don’t know why I’ve been experiencing this vocal cord pain. What I do know is, sometimes God allows our pain on earth to create the soil for the soul that allows Him to work. Allows the soul to bear fruit. Allows God to use it for the salvation of others.

I could recall the 20 other seasons of suffering I’ve experienced and look back now and say, “Oh, wow, there’s a whole harvest already because of that season.” And, friend, if this side of eternity produced that much life, where we still live in a drought-filled broken world, how much is that producing in the Kingdom coming that is perfect?

God is Moving, We Have to Trust that He’s Good

Whatever difficulties God is allowing in your life right now, if you’d remain faithful and trust He will work good despite whatever your situations are preaching to you, He will use that pile of manure in ways that are beautiful in His Kingdom.

I don’t know what you may be going through, or what you will go through, but I do know that not only is God a good Father, even when the pain seems strange or unfair, He wants to be with you (1 Pet. 5:7). More though, God uses it. He does not let our suffering go to waste. It turns into good for you, and for many others (Rom. 8:28). God promised this, and God does not lie. At times it takes a long time for the manure of suffering to draw forth the fruit of the tree it was laid on. But fruit is coming.

The call for us in this steadfastness within suffering is to simply believe God is who He says He is (Ex. 3:14, Num. 23:19). He doesn’t waste our suffering (2 Co. 4:17). He’s moving even when we don’t see it (Isa. 43:19., Rom. 11:33). And at times there are 400 years of silence before the Deliverer comes (Gen. 15:13, Gal. 4:4). But when He comes, He saves us from way more than we expected. We’re freed from something far worse than Egypt, into something far better than Jerusalem.

Choose to Trust God Today

Christ is our great example here. Jesus suffered more than we could ever imagine. And yet, what seemed awful produced life for everyone who believes in Him, forever! The manure of suffering that Jesus experienced created a harvest of saints that is still expanding today!

Jesus was our forerunner who showed, to those who stay steadfast to God, you will gain victory, and it will not just be for your good, but the good of others. God moves through your suffering even when you don’t see (or believe) it! So, endure faithfully.

For Further Reflection

For reflection, consider reading Hebrews 10-12 this week and pay attention to what faith despite hardship/suffering brings.