Sowing in Tears.

For some reason, this is how I'm thinking about things this morning. In the 2005 Masters Golf Tournament, Tiger Woods was standing beside the 16th green on the Augusta National golf course intensely studying a lengthy chip from off of the green. He was looking some 25 feet away from the hole as to where he would try to chip his ball to, hoping it would somehow trickle down to a somewhat handleable par putt. The TV footage shows the thousands of people gathered around the green hush to silence and you see Tiger's eyes intently focussing on the spot that he wanted to try to chip his ball too. He chips dramatically away from the hole and as the ball slowly starts to roll towards the cup, the crowd begins to murmur. The commentator, Vern Lundquist, speaks as the ball rolls ever closer to the hole. "Oh my goodness!" The ball keeps turning, slowing as it arrives near the hole, the Nike swoosh perfectly visible on the close-up shot of the golf ball. The ball pauses right on the lip of the cup and then after literally stopping briefly, it falls into the hole for a truly amazing golf shot. The crowd roars with a dart of an adrenaline shot, shocked and awed by such an amazing fete and then Lundquist continued with these classic words.....

"Oh WOW! In your life, have you seen anything like that?", pushing the limits of his microphone with his almost yelling.

Stay with me.

The people of God had been kicked out of their land and into captivity. Go to that thought. It would be really hard. It would be really sad. This was their plight. It was dark, hard, and desperate. Some remember words from the heritage of their Scriptures that there would be restoration and rescue, but would that really come true? There must be moments in the dark that those words are so very hollow. Now just reduced to folklore. Would reviving ever come? Seemingly no.

In the Bible book of Psalm, chapter 126, the Psalmist is telling us that story. GOD DID IT! He DID bring them back out of captivity. Imagine that dart of an adrenaline shot. You were kicked out of your homeland and were captive to your captors and now you're going back home. Reviving is happening. Restoration is not just folklore. It is being lived. And we hear the hints of their hope, joy and gratitude strung through that 126th song. We were like men who dreamed... mouths filled with laughter... tongues with songs of joy... The Lord has done great things... We are filled with joy. And then comes these words.

"Those who sow in tears will reap songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."

What does daily living look like as a lover of Jesus? I'm not asking this tritely. I am feeling the ongoing weight of the gravity of living in this current moment of history with the billions of complex storylines all happening in real time. 7.7 billion of us. Taking stock of all the chaos outside of you and all the chaos inside of you, how will you and I walk this out? These last verses from Psalm 126 have given me a glimpse.

With tears on my cheek and seed in my hand.

No, I'm not saying you have to cry, but don't be surprised if you do along the way.

The most accurate picture I can come up with is the gritty reality of a humbled by God Christ follower, plowing in hope in the living of today with realistic, desperate dependence on God (pictured by tears) and matching desperate confidence in God (pictured by seeds), staying in it by the grace and mercy of God for the glory of God.

Tears. It's hard.

Seeds. I'm hopeful.

Tears. It's real life.

Seeds. I'm being carried powerfully.

Tears. It's worth it being challenging.

Seeds. I'm being challenged.

Tears. It's a plot with the depth of God.

Seeds. I'm participating in God's plot.

And there is joy. There IS joy.

And when I imagine you and I stepping into today with these realities pictured in our desperate living, tears and seeds present, I want to scream into the microphone as loud as I can, "Oh WOW! In your life, have you seen anything like that?"

If those words can be exclaimed as a synthetic ball drops into a hole in the ground, I can surely utter them as I watch you live it out today with your Savior.

"Oh WOW! In your life, have you seen anything like that?"

There's more.