The Joy of Return

Psalm 126: 5  Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy.

Among all the things reaping harvest brings, joy is preeminent. There’s joy in the abundance and resulting nourishment, even more seed to sow for another harvest.

In our passage today the harvest of joy was reaped when Israel returned to Jerusalem during the ministry of Ezra and Nehemiah. There were a few refugees that remembered the former city which was nothing like what they returned to.  Yet there was joy!

With every harvest there are season of incubation, nurturing and waiting.  For Israel this harvest came at the price of decades of tears of repentance. They reaped the joy of returning.

Today there are myriads of people crying out on behalf of our nation, tears have and continue to be sown.  God has strategically positioned leaders that are sympathetic to Christians and the Christian/Judeo Values upon which our nation was built.  We need to escalate the sowing, not slack off to reap the joy of return, returning to the moorings of our faith.  Seeking the Giver more than gifts, desperation for His presence and compassion for people; the Joy of Return!