12Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.13You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men.
I believe strongly in the principle of sowing and reaping - it's taught in the Scriptures, and as we think back on our lives, perhaps we can see incidences where the choices we have made have resulted in negative consequences. The trajectory of our lives becomes guided by the decisions that we make.
So, as we enter a new year, it's important that we allow God's Word to guide us. Where we have missed the mark, we can confess our sins and ask the Lord to give us wisdom in the future. If we're reaping the results of errant behavior, we can still rely on the grace of God to sustain us. And, even when we face pain and suffering that is not of our own making, we can still trust Him to take our adversity and use it for His glory.
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We can be challenged by a passage of Scripture from Galatians 6, which reads:
7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.8For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.9And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
The movie, Into the Woods, based on a Broadway play of the same name, has made quite an impact on the movie box office so far - it actually edged out Unbroken to move into the number 2 slot last weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, and even though it contains a share of fairy tale characters, it definitely would not be for small children. It plays like a "happily-ever-after" story; only things really go dark during the final third of the film, as some of the characters experience the consequences of their choices.
The synopsis: a baker and his wife are childless and make a deal with a witch to be able to bear children. She challenges the couple to bring her 4 items from the woods: a cow, a cape, golden hair, and a shiny slipper. As the plot unfolds, the couple finds the items, belonging, respectively, to Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. But, the baker and his wife are willing to steal and deceive in order to comply with the witch's proposed bargain. Even though the movie builds to a seemingly happy conclusion, it then portrays a cautionary tale where bad choices result in negative consequences.
To reinforce this sowing and reaping principle, I came across an article on The Christian Post website recently that reported that Teen Mom 2 star Leah Messer has had a tumultuous year but recently called it the best year of her life, "by the grace of God."
Not being familiar with the show, I came across a biography of Ms. Messer. According to the website, Hollywood Life, Leah Messer "shot to fame after appearing on 16 & Pregnant, and she has sparked controversy because by the time she was 20-years-old, she was married twice and had three children."
The show, 16 & Pregnant, as well as her current series, Teen Mom 2, are products of MTV. The biography continues:
She and her boyfriend Corey Simms welcomed twin girls called Aliannah and Aleeah on Dec. 16 2009. They got married after a whirlwind proposal, but divorced in April 2011. Leah went on to marry Jeremy Calvert in April 2012, and they had their first baby, a girl, on Feb. 4 2013.The Post article says that "Messer has had a year filled with a custody battle with her ex-husband, accusations of infidelity, and taking care of three children, one with special needs." She also reportedly had quit the television show, only to announce her return. But, the report says that Leah recently called 2014 the best year of her life, "by the grace of God."
Apparently there is a faith element here. An earlier Christian Post article reported that Leah is said to be renewing her faith amid reports of ongoing personal struggles.
She was reportedly spotted attending a service at the Sissonville Community Church in Charleston, West Virginia on Nov. 22 where a source claims she appeared to be engaged during a sermon.
The article reports that a source told InTouch magazine, "She's started going to a church that embraces forgiveness and recovery. She's determined to make a complete turnaround," .
During the Nov. 22 sermon, her pastor was preaching about finding strength in Jesus to overcome addiction and substance abuse.
"He said that bad habits like drugs, sex and alcoholism can be broken when one finds Jesus. Leah was nodding her head in agreement the entire time," the source continued. "It seemed to really hit home for her."
So, it's reported that Leah Messer, or Messer-Calvert, has taken a step toward God's grace, and, if her turn to the Lord is sincere, I would say, "good for her." But she is obviously experiencing the consequences of some errant choices that she has made, that she has allowed to unfold in a very public setting.
Sometimes life will be tough because we live in a fallen world. Sometimes our circumstances go south on us because of poor choices that we have made.
I have to think about the people who came to Jesus in John chapter 9:
1Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.2And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"3Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
Regardless of the type of year that you have had, the coming of 2015 gives you the chance to hit the "reset" button. And, really, because the Lord's mercies are new every morning, according to Lamentations 3, we can approach each day with a fresh start and a fresh perspective.
You may be reaping the consequences of some bad choices that you have made. While the Lord offers us forgiveness, there is no guarantee that we will be exempt from the consequences of our sins. But, His grace is sufficient each day.
We can also seek God's wisdom and rely on God's strength to make good decisions. Even though we have may have made bad choices, we can partner with the Holy Spirit to learn from our mistakes and begin to make right, God-honoring decisions.
You may be experiencing pain and suffering in your life for no apparent reason - we can have hope in the Lord and trust that He will use our adversities for His glory. We live in a messed-up world and life "in the woods" can be disappointing, confusing, painful, and fraught with trouble, but we know a Lord who walks with us and will direct us. As we enter a new year, we can make the overarching decision to allow the Lord to control our thoughts and our actions.
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