Issue 1773 – Planting – July 18, 2025
We were deep in the countryside of Laos on a medical mission trip. What I saw looked like a scene from a National Geographic magazine or from every Vietnam-era movie that I had ever seen.
Rice paddies as far as the eye could see, with Lao women in the traditional “coolie” hat planting rice. To them, it was common, everyday labor. To me, it was exciting, as I never thought I would see it in person.
The paddies are ingenious in design. Small mud dams hold the water back and flood the crops. Controlled openings regulate the flow of water from paddy to paddy, allowing maximum use of a given amount of water.
Stalks of rice are brought from the nursery area and planted by hand in the mud. There, they will be tended until the dry season, when the ground around the rice will dry.
The heads of rice will be hand harvested with a sickle. The stalks will be burned in place, fertilizing the soil, and the dams repaired in anticipation of the next harvest. It is labor-intensive work, and all steps of the process must be completed before the rice is ready for harvest.
Like any crop, it takes work and time and a degree of faith to bring to fruition. I was reminded of Jesus at the Samaritan well, after He had sent the woman off. The disciples have rejoined Jesus.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
John 4:31-38
The disciples were confused. What could Jesus mean when he told them that his food was to do the Father’s will?
Did it mean that He did not need to eat? Of course not! Jesus was fully man as well as fully God. His body had the exact needs of any human.
He meant that He did not need temporary sustenance to continue His work. He knew that bringing souls to harvest was a labor of many parts.
Like a rice harvest, each step must take place before the harvest can begin. Each step is undertaken in faith that the harvest will come to fruition.
When we share the truth or minister to others, we may not see any results. We do not have to grow discouraged by that fact. We can be sustained by the knowledge that God is responsible for the harvest. Each of us does our part in faith and leaves the results to God.
The Apostle Paul understood that fact very well.
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Till the soil, pick the rocks, prepare the seedbed, plant, weed, water, or harvest.
Do your part faithfully, and the harvest will come in season. Do not grow discouraged if you do not see results. Continue to work in faith.
Fruit takes time to form and mature.
Until next time, may you be sustained by the faith that God is responsible for the results. Your part is to do your part.
Hallelu Yah
Be blessed,
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
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All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word.
Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”