Using the Laws of the Harvest In a Real Life Example!
A lot of people have asked me if I am against people doing bikini competitions since I have told so many stories about the negative consequences of having done mine. And I wholeheartedly tell them, “Absolutely not!” I am in fact prepping a client for a bikini competition as we speak! She’s about 10 weeks away!
But also, the reason I would never dare to tell someone not to go after such a lofty goal is that there are a lot of really great things that can come out of pushing ourselves far out of our comfort zones. There is SO MUCH that I learned about my CHARACTER in that process of taking things “too far” for MY body that I have ZERO regrets about.
There are some people that actually THRIVE and really LOVE the competition world and can maintain a high character approach toward doing such activity.
One such example is one of my best friends and prayer partner, Jennifer. She was one who trained me and dozens of other women for these competitions with her husband. Jennifer did a couple different competitions herself over the years and told me she was was able to actually use them to grow closer to God!
Anything and everything we do can be an act of worship. So especially those really challenging goals we push for, we can definitely lean more on Him and we will be better for it! While Jennifer will tell you she won’t do another one (they are huge sacrifices, especially if you have young kids, like she does), her experience was markedly different than mine.
So why is that in life?
How is it that two women, both with hearts for God, can engage in the SAME endeavor, “planting our seeds” into the same routines, desiring the same outcomes, but experiencing radically different “HARVESTS” as a result?
This is often where we get hung up as we decide to try to do those things that we see our friends do, especially after we see their success.
The key to understanding the differences in these “harvests” and rewards is to realize that there are THREE vital parts to the Law of the Harvest, not just the two.
There’s the obvious SEED (our thoughts, our words and our actions)
Then there’s the obvious HARVEST (the results, our success, and our character blessing,too).
The THIRD aspect to this equation is the real difference maker.
It's the SOIL.
The SOIL is the *KEY* component into whether the seeds sprouts a REWARDING harvest or whether the the seeds withers, dies and gets ‘choked' by the weeds of life.
Take a look at the powerful words of Jesus’ Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13 which I like in The Message translation.
"A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.” (Matthew 13:3-8)
It’s obvious that this Farmer had worked hard to scatter his seeds. And it wasn’t the SEEDS fault that it failed because each seed was made with equal potential for greatness and success! The same goes for you and me. We are all created in equal love and ability for our own blessings and destiny.
The key difference as to whether the seed found success or not was the nutritious depth of environment that it was planted.
In other words if you don’t plant your SEEDS (i.e. your thoughts, words and actions) into an environment that doesn't have depth and nutrition, then the shallow soil will not produce the fruitful harvest you desire.
That’s exactly what went wrong with my experience in the bikini competition.
As I learned, more retrospectively, that the real reason WHY I decided to do the bikini competition was in order to “look the part” of someone I thought I was supposed to be.
The real reason WHY I chased having a “perfect body” was because I thought that was the answer to my body images issues and ultimately would give me self-love and happiness.
My “WHY" was my soil. Your WHY is your soil too.
If it’s a shallow, self-serving, or an overall unhealthy reason WHY you are really doing what you are doing then it will NOT produce the rich harvest of blessings that you want it to because God wants SO MUCH MORE for you life.
{And by “really” doing, I mean, the real, deep reason why you are doing what you are doing. Not the reason you tell others or even convince yourself you are doing something. It might even be subconscious for a while, but eventually God will allow it to come to light. Your WHY matters most. }
"Planting on the PATHWWAY ":
Sometimes we make half-hearted choices in our health, the most shallow of all. We know these well. We commit to a “diet” that we’re never really going to follow. We sign up for a “program” that we don’t even open. We get that gym membership but never show up to use it. We don’t ever really COMMIT and therefore our WHY is extra shallow. These are equivalent to the “path” where the birds came and eat those seeds. Nothing will come from these efforts.
"Planting On Shallow Soil":
Sometimes we get excited and so we make hasty, quick decisions and see some quick results….but inevitably those seeds sprout quickly and die just as quickly.
We do that 3-day cleanse, but then we go right back to eating how we used to. We take drops or diet pills that decrease our appetite to lose weight quickly. We do an extreme workout regime for a month or two, preparing for a “special occasion.” But those extreme tactics cannot be sustained and are equivalent to the soil in the gravel. The faster it comes off, the faster it will come right back on.
"Planting Among the Weeds"
Then, there are times we we *think* we are planting our “seeds” in rich and deep soil of good intentions. This was me in my big endeavor in my bikini competition and DOZENS of other life experiences I’ve had.
We make the commitment alright, but soon realize that WEEDS sprout up all around us.
I love what Jesus tells us about the soil with the weeds (from The Message translation again which is extra powerful).
“The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.” (Matthew 13:22 MSG)
For anyone that has planted a garden, you know that you don’t need to GROW WEEDS. Weeds just sprout up. The same thing happens in our head as we plant our seeds the the soil of opportunity.
Weeds are lies we start to believe about ourselves.
Weeds are the distractions of self-doubt, selfishness or even conflict. Weeds are the result of SIN and our human nature and the devil getting in the way of our destiny.
These weeds strangle our good intentions of the Spirit and distorts them, ruining the harvest.
"For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” Galatians 5:17
BUT, GOD.
It would seem to be a lost cause that we would ever be able to truly reap a rich harvest we desire out of life, doesn’t it?
Indeed, I think a lot of people lose hope here. Thinking, “What’s the point? I’m always going to self-sabotage and will never escape my habits of worry."
It is a huge challenge in our lives and I am not trying to play this down at all.
BUT, Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:6)
But I believe that it is MORE THAN possible to plant your seeds of your health and your life in the deep, rich soil that is Jesus and you will WIN the harvest of your destiny.
When you align your WHY with God’s WHY for your life, and not the life of those you see around you, you will find that there are far fewer weeds that will get in your way and choke your destiny away from you.
"Planting on the Good Soil":
When your health becomes less about YOU and more about what you can do to better serve God’s kingdom, the richness of your soil will be incredible. It will sprout harvests for generations and generations.
Listen to what Jesus went on to say about planting seeds on “Good Earth,"
“The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.” (Matthew 13:23 MSG)
The "NEWS" is that Jesus has already done all of the hard work for you when He died on the cross.
The "NEWS" is that you don’t actually have to strive for and earn the things you think you do, God has worked it all out for you.
The "NEWS" is that He has come through with his weed whacker and has prepared some fertile ground for JUST YOU to plant. You just need to have COURAGE, FAITH and TRUST that God will always do what He says He will do.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
There are over 7,000 promises in the Bible like this that you can ROOT yourself and your health in. When you focus on Him and focus on His TRUTH the weeds of your doubt and the lies in your head simply cannot survive.
Get deep. Look for your real WHY and you will win. You will win!
"Harvesting My Health" Free Download!
If you are interested in learning more about how to Harvest Your Health in 2016, then I'd love to welcome you to my email list! I'll be giving away the BEST content to my inner tribe! In fact, I have a FREE 7-Day devotional series I wrote for you on "Harvesting My Health" through the 7-Laws of the Harvest! I think you'll really like it!
Just click the button below to grab your free copy and I'll look forward to connecting with you soon!
