by Jackie McCune Merical

A couple, who were very close to me, were about to get a divorce.

My husband and I had spent a lot of time counseling them, but to no avail.  I felt there must be something we could say that we hadn't said or something we could do that we hadn't done.  While pondering the situation, one of the stories from the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis (The Horse and His Boy) came to me. 

The story tells of a young boy, Shasta, and a young girl, Aravis, who were escaping from a wicked King.  They kept trying to get their "talking" horses to run faster.  The horses said they couldn't but when a lion appeared and began to chase them they found they could run faster.  As the chase continued the lion scratched the young girl's shoulder.  Later, when they reached their destination, they each in turn met Aslan, a lion who, in the story, is an analogy of Jesus Christ.  First to speak with Aslan was the young boy, Shasta.  When he found that it was Aslan, who chased them, his first question was,  "Why did you wound Aravis?"

It was Aslan's answer that spoke to me:

"Child, I am telling you your story not hers.  I tell no one any story but his own."

If only this couple could grasp the reality of that statement.  Whenever anyone would talk to them individually they would always talk about the other one's story.  She would tell you about all the things he had done to bring the marriage into the state it was in, and he would tell you about all the things she had done to destroy their relationship. The fact is we each one reap what we sow.  We never reap what someone else sows. 

Sometimes it may seem that we are reaping something because of the actions of another when in reality what we reap is our REACTION to their ACTION.

Truly this couple were each one suffering greatly but what they couldn't see was - SHE was reaping what SHE sowed - HE was reaping what HE sowed.

I began to see the power or principal of this law, for it is indeed a law.  It is so powerful that even the Lord Himself brought forth creation according to it.

Chapter one of Genesis tells us that good seed was sown.  It also speaks of seeding seeds.  Every farmer knows the importance of seeding seeds.  They must keep some of the seeds from their crops to sow the next season.  From the beginning there were seeding seeds within everything that was created.  But then I came to a scripture I hadn't really noticed before.  Genesis  2:4-5 says:

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.  And every plant of the field BEFORE it was in the earth, and every herb of the field BEFORE it grew,. . .

God created them but He hadn't yet planted them.  Why? The verse continues:

For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground."

There was earth - and before anything was planted, God reached down and took a part of the earth, formed man and planted Himself in him.  He breathed into him the breath of life.  What a beautiful picture!  Before God planted anything He first planted Himself.  Why? Because He intends to reap what He sowed!

THEN God planted a garden (verse eight) and in the midst of that garden were two trees.  Let's look at the one called The Knowledge of Good and Evil.  In reference to sowing and reaping I thought of the words to a song we sing.

Jesus seed is planted in me

I'm growing up before Him

like a green olive tree

First the ROOT

Then the SHOOT

And then I'm bearing FRUIT

from Jesus seed that's planted in me.

The process (natural or spiritual) is FIRST the root - THEN the shoot - THEN the fruit.  I know something about the root of this tree. The Word tells me, in I Timothy 6:10, that the love of money is a root of all evil.  Turning to that portion of scripture, and beginning at verse 6 we read:

But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is the (or a) root of all evil.

Verse 6 says , we brought nothing into this world.  In other words we were naked.  This took me back to Genesis 2:25:

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And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

I looked up the word ashamed and found it also meant disappointed or discontented.  At first, Adam and Eve were content to keep the garden of God and be satisfied in their fellowship with Him and felt no need for anything else.  They were not disappointed or unsatisfied.  In other words, they were CONTENT.

Remember now the process of growth

ROOT

SHOOT

FRUIT

To begin this process you must have a seed.  Where do you get the seed? From the fruit.  That's where the seeding seeds are.  so - if I'm going to learn more about this tree of knowledge of good and evil I must look at it's fruit.  After they partook of it, Adam and Eve knew they were naked and hid themselves.  When God came looking for them Adam said:

That woman you gave me, Lord, she made me do it. 

When He spoke to Eve she said:

The Devil made me do it.

Isn't that exactly what my friends were doing?  Actually isn't that what everyone does when there is a problem in a relationship?  Not just husband and wife, but parent and child, child and teacher, employer and employee etc.  It's always the other guy's fault.  But God isn't interested in the other guy's story, He's interested in you.  You're reaping what you sowed and the answer lies in your side of the story.

Immediately after eating the fruit Adam and Eve knew they were naked.  Notice it said they knew not saw that they were naked.  I could now see that the nakedness went far beyond the flesh.  When their eyes were opened they knew they had nothing of their own.  They were naked.  They had no possessions.  This knowledge caused them to desire things and they thought that God wasn't enough.  As they became aware of all this they were ashamed or rather discontented.

The process is something like this:

I begin to feel that there is a lack in some area of my life

and SEED is planted.

I begin to lust for something to fill the lack and a

ROOT takes hold.

I become discontented and a SHOOT appears.

Well, it's not my fault so I begin to blame someone else for my lack and the FRUIT ripen.

As I continue to blame the other guy, the SEED from the FRUIT is planted, the cycle begins again and soon I have a whole crop.  I look over my farm and see a field of bitterness, one of hatred, another of anger etc.  Where did it all come from?  Well, I reap what I sow.  The only answer is I planted the seeds.

How can I replant my farm?  First of all you need some good  seeding seeds.  God does not just hand us love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance on a silver platter (Galatians 5:22-23).  Why do you think they are called the Fruit of the Spirit?  Holy Spirit that is.  It's God's way of providing us with seeding seeds.  If I want Love, I must plant the seeds of Love.  If I want Peace, I must plant the seeds of Peace, and so forth.  Plant it, nourish it, harvest it, and plant it again.

There are three aspects of sowing and reaping going on in the earth.

That which God sows

That which the enemy sows

That which we sow.

Remember, God sowed Himself in Adam - He will reap what He sowed.

The enemy sowed evil - he will reap what he sowed.

We are in the process of sowing, and we will reap what we sow.

As we grow in Christ, there will be times when we will have to plant something.  God, through the Holy spirit, has given us perfect seeding seeds, but the enemy also makes sure there are evil seeding seeds at our disposal.  They too are listed in

Galatians 5:19-29

Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these:  adultery, fornication, uncleaness, lasciviousness (lustfulness), idolarty, witchcraft, hatred, variance (quarreling), emulations (jealousy), wrath, strife,seditions (divisions), envyings, murders, drunkenness, ravelings, and such like. . .

It goes on in Galatians 6:7-8

Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

The SEED - is the WORD SPOKEN by God the Father,

"Let there be!"

The ROOT - is the WORD MADE FLESH, for He (the Son) was planted before the foundation of the world.

The SHOOT - is the WORD WRITTEN, for He (the Holy Spirit) caused men to write.

The FRUIT - is the WORD MANIFESTED, a people, a Holy Habitation in which God may dwell.

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