Harvest Season
Written by Jeff Howell | Associate Pastor of Administration
Dear Faith Family ~
We find ourselves entering that month of the year associated with harvest, changing temperatures, progressively shorter days, and FRIGHT!!! According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending amongst Americans totaled around $11.6B in 2024 and is expected to reach $13.1B this year.[1] Yes……Billion! While some of that money went towards candy corn and superhero costumes, FRIGHT must certainly factor in as well if the hordes of creepy decorations lurking about are any clue. Also, there’s the estimated $300M—$600M that Americans will spend on visiting haunted houses this year.[2] Personally, I would pay money to NOT be scared to death. But that’s just me.
Just as Halloween is engineered to create fright, so the harvest is designed by God to give us what we need.
Scripture offers glimpses of how the annual cycle of seasons & harvest is a visible reminder of His kind intention toward us.
The later verses of Gen 8 tell the story of the big day when Noah, his family, and the animals once again set foot on dry land. Verse 22 reveals a promise of God to humanity: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Gen 8:22 ESV). We are right to view the cycle of seasons—of which autumnal October is a part—as God’s sovereign design and faithful provision for us. In October 2025, God will make good on that harvest promise again.
In Jer 5:23, we find the prophet Jeremiah citing the truth about God’s provision, though as part of a stinging rebuke to hardhearted Judah:
The people rejected their LORD…the very One who made daily survival possible. The autumn rain & the time of harvest were, and are, God’s gift to the people He has made (Cf. Deut 11:13ff). May we prayerfully endeavor to respond to His kind providence with hearts that are inhospitable to stubbornness, rebellion, and iniquity. Also, may we curate hearts that embrace the work that God has given us to do here on Earth and not be like the one pitifully described in Prov 20:4, “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.”
Jas 5:7 tells us who we should be like. Consider the farmer who trustingly, “waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.” On the surface, it seems James is simply reaffirming the earthly experience of God’s harvest goodness that I highlighted above; but in the context of the passage, James is calling believers to patiently wait for the return of Christ. Greater than earthly plenty is eternal provision. Harvest promise will be replaced by Heavenly perfection.
The day that Jesus Christ comes back is the day that all fear will end for those who have trusted in Him alone for salvation.
He will come to deliver us from the bondage of our failing bodies which are currently consigned to a sin-cursed world that operates under the sway of the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2).
I challenge you to really consider all that October can teach us about our God. If you see rain, remember His promise to send it at just the right time. When you find harvest goods, stop for a moment (even right there in the Produce Department) and thank Him for His provision for you both now and forever. Lastly, here are some devotional applications that I pray are useful for keeping the Lord and His harvest in view all month long:
- Guard your heart. – In this season of God’s good harvest from the earth, may we carefully contemplate the quality of the harvest from our hearts. Are we bursting forth with good fruit because we are choosing to live for Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit? To do that, we must guard our hearts. What do we permit to hang on our heart’s walls, to fill its deep drawers, to play through its speakers?
- Get your theology from truth, not fiction. – Much of what we could hear, read, or watch will not tell us the truth about God. Be sure to test so-called “truth” about God with the Word of God and see if it squares (Acts 17:10—13). Ask a godly brother or sister for their assessment, too!
- Practice the right fear. – In this season of people trying to scare you, set your eyes on the One who alone is worthy to be feared. God should evoke fear in man because God is the sovereign of the universe. He made the universe, He owns the universe, He rules the universe, and He will bring an end to the universe. He has a good and gracious plan for the universe. We should give Him the respect and submission that He is due. May we inhabit that joyful place of both fearing the Lord and having no fear because we know He has overcome the world (Jn 16:33).
I pray that your October is so full of harvest, gratitude, and fruit that it’s scary.
