No Limits! No Boundaries! Take the Limits Off

Every January our faith community comes up with a theme for the year.  This year our Pastor declared the theme for 2013 to be:  

It's Harvest Time!  No Limits...Boundaries

*Insert  my Halfhearted woo hoo*

As the year has progressed on, this theme seems to be having some legs.  It took until September 1 for me to FINALLY get it.  This is indeed a year of harvest and for a real harvest to occur there can be no limits and no boundaries.

Prepare for the Harvest

That was the theme last year for our faith community.  Last year we were preparing and this year it is time to harvest.

Last week in my Quiet Time one of the devotions said, Farmers do not plant seeds and then go watch television for six months.  They are constantly working the land preparing for the harvest.

I thought about this and how I tend to be one of those people who will plant a seed, water it, stand over it for 5 minutes and then say "NOTHING IS HAPPENING!  WHY ISN'T IT GROWING???? THIS IS A WASTE OF TIME!!! I'M GIVING UP!!!"

Then I will think it over and realize I'm being unrealistic, so I will come back in 2 or 3 days and not water or do anything to the seeds, see that nothing is STILL happening ,and then say forget it this was a bad idea to plant anything because nothing ever grows.

You see where I'm going with this?

The process will take as long it takes

I was born and raised in San Francisco so I know nothing about planting crops, but I do know that expecting something to happen in 5 minutes, 2 days, or 2 weeks is unrealistic.  I also know that if you don't DO anything while waiting for your harvest...you won't have a harvest.

I began to plant seeds last year (half heartedly).  I've really turned up the heat in the past few months and really gotten into tilling my land so to speak.  I also have learned that a real harvest takes time.  You don't plant seeds, get frustrated when they don't turn into a harvest overnight, and then proceed to give up!

Focusing on day to day circumstances and what isn't happening isn't helpful.  It is discouraging and frustrating.  Imagine if the farmer goes out and says, "This plant isn't growing fast enough.  It certainly isn't growing as fast as my neighbor's plant.  I'm going to do all these things to it so that it will grow faster." 

Sorry Farmer Brown but there's a process to growing.  Same with the harvests in our own lives.  It takes time.  There's a process to the whole production.  My problem was that I spent a lot of time on day to day circumstances and of course trying to make sense of it all.  "Well this just isn't looking good.  I knew this wasn't right.  Look at _______.  Maybe if I try this that will work."

All bad.

I'm learning to trust the process.  As one of my favorite quotes says, "You will not get a baby any faster if you get 9 women pregnant at the same time."  The process takes as long as it takes.

Take the Limits off.  No Limits, No Boundaries

Farmer Brown decides that he's only going to allow his plant to grow as tall as he wants it.  No more and No Less.  The plant can't grow to its full potential.  It can only grow where Farmer Brown wants it.

Well that's all fine and good, but in my harvest I don't want to go as far as I'm comfortable.  I want to go as far as I'm supposed to.  This means that things are going to get CRAY CRAY.

Stuff that I would have said "No Way" to before is going to be "LET'S GO!"  

Ideas that seem to be out of my reach: "I'M ALL IN!"

Presented with stuff that makes me say, "ARE YOU FOR REAL???? UHHHHHH YOU KNOW WHAT????  YESSSSS!!!!!"

The main reason most of us don't grow beyond what's in front of us is because we don't believe that there's anymore that can happen.  We've already told our plant how far it can and will grow.

Y'all can have that mess.  I want my blessing to grow so big that it's reaching into my neighbor's yard and they can get some of my fruit.  

In the words of Israel and New Breed

No Limits

No Boundaries

I See INCREASE all around me

Stretch Forth

Break Forth

RELEASE ME

Enlarge my Territory

We've got 120 shopping days left in 2013!  Let's go!!