"Cultivating is the process of tilling or unsettling the soil to make it more suitable for planting." ("What is Cultivation" by Jennifer Chait, from The Balance Small Business: )
The last Online Bible Study (OBS) I did with Proverbs31 Ministries (P31) was an introduction to me into "Journaling". It is something I have wanted to do and start for a very long time but I always get lost in translation with how to start, when to start, what to actually journal to start with. Well, it was like a 5-year old opening a Christmas gift for me when P31 partnered with Cultivate What Matters who hosted a five-week OBS on "Write The Word: Cultivate Worship Journal". It's main purpose was really to center our worship to the King of kings and LORD of Lords through the Scripture itself. I love how Cultivate CEO Lara Casey, defined and explained how we should be growing our knowledge of the Word of God not just by reading or studying it but by actually writing it with our hand and praying the Scripture with our written words. And so I was really caught and hooked to the word CULTIVATE. I have asked the LORD to reveal to me a word for the year and I believe that this is it for 2021 for me: CULTIVATE!
Cultivate, yes! But cultivate what? How? Why?
Twenty twenty has opened up more understanding and knowledge of the Word of God, a lot have been revealed to me through His Word. It felt like I have known all those Bible stories for so long but not really understood the message of the Scripture. I have grown exponentially through the Bible Studies and personal reading, studying and memorizing of God's Word. And so, this year I wanted to further develop and grow my faith by cultivating spiritual disciplines for His glory and for my good.
Over the weekend, I listened to Bianca Juarez Olthoff's 'We're Going There' podcast and her bonus episode talked about "Finding Your Word for the Year". She related her own process of choosing one. I love the five steps she uses every year to find her word for the year and I wrote them down for you here - (1) Pause. Take time to go back and review your list of blessings then ask five specific questions that brings you back or redirect you to what is really important; (2) Think or Visualize. Set up your environment to allow you to relax, so you can have silence and focus more on "What is resonating to you when you think of this year?" (3) Create a List of Words. In about 10 minutes, think and write down about 10-20 words that instantly comes to mind first; (4) Review and Refine. Circle or highlight the words that jump to you. Put words into cluster/theme. She also asks herself why 'the word' is pivotal for her, then goes into God's Word to find what the LORD is saying about this word and find an anchor Bible verse; (5) Ask yourself this question: "Are you interested or are you committed?" Remember that the word you choose is going to remind you and anchor you back to your intentions for the year. It will also remind you to go back to your anchor Bible verse. If you wish to listen to the whole podcast and learn more, click the link below. I hope this can help and inspire you too! It did me.
I read this very interesting article too from Desiring God about some lessons we can learn from a farmer. Cultivating is such a gardening term and so it is just fitting that we talk about planting and farming while I relate my word for the year with you all. Christine Hoover, on her article entitled "Three Lessons from the Farmer About Faith", wrote about some things she learned from her cousin who is a farmer in Texas.
Hoover cited these three things she learned about faith from her farmer cousin. These are -
"A farmer has an unwavering commitment to the harvest"
"A farmer lives and works by faith"
"A farmer enjoys a unique reward"
So how do these things play out in cultivating? Let us explore.
How true was it when the author's cousin said "Farming is a way of life, a lifelong commitment" just like our faith. It is an everyday work of cultivating, weeding and watering for the long haul. Farming does not finish with planting, it is a long cycle that calls for patience in waiting for the harvest. It is practicing these spiritual disciplines everyday of our lives with what Hoover calls "small glimpses of harvest" along the way. But our ultimate goal, the absolute harvest we are working for and looking forward to is when we see our Creator.
It was also said that a farmer lives and works by faith, trusting that there will be good harvest and that whatever weather comes it will not ruin all their hard work and long wait. Even with our faith we cannot aim for instant growth, instant change, instead like our walk with Jesus it is "a steady pace for the long haul". A farmer cultivates, weeds and waters hoping against all odds that when the harvest day comes he will reap a good one. But then natural disasters can come and destroy the whole crop, pests can interfere; just like in our faith journey there are valleys, mountains or bumps around us that might halt the growth we have already cultivated over time. But through our continuous cultivation in the study of God's Word, fellowship with our community of Jesus followers, we serve, worship, pray and diligently do our spiritual worship....then again it is God our Father who makes us grow. The author also said that the "harvest cannot be forced; it can only happen through the Lord's providence".
The Word of God tells us that we are the workers in the field, but everything is all up to Our LORD God Almighty. We must trust in God's process as “O God of harvest, we plant and water but you alone give the growth. You have commanded that we pray that the Word ‘speed ahead and be honored’ (2 Thessalonians 3:1). We just have to keep our faith in our One True God as we go through our everyday walk; we might stumble and fall but one thing is true about our Heavenly Father - He is in charge and has control over all and that all we need to do is HAVE FAITH for the long haul as it is the only thing we can do.
Tools are also a vital part of a farmer's life as they till the soil to get it ready for planting. He might use equipment too like a \\\\\\\tractor, a rototiller or plain shovel and soil fork. We too in our faith cultivation need some tools for which the most important is The Word of GOD. The truth of the gospel is the basic tool for growing in faith, Ephesians 6:17 says that it is "the sword of the Spirit", one of the essential pieces of the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-17)
"God gives the growth and God can do anything he pleases. But it is normal for seed to be sown, then watered, before there is growth." - - John Piper, "I Plant, You Water" Desiring God
The final lesson from the farmer is enjoying a unique reward which is "the joy in the harvest, and the greatest satisfaction belongs to the one who carefully cultivated it all along the way" (Hoover). This joy that can be described as the result of those years of hard work tilling the soil, planting, watering and harvesting. It is the joy of years of fruitfulness and full circle realizing that it is only by fully trusting the God of the harvest that we can really have joy! Therefore our joy is absolutely for GOD's glory!
"In our work and in our weariness, let us look to the farmer. Let us keep the deep-root, big picture in mind. If we don’t give up, one day we will enjoy the final harvest and its bountiful rewards. Unlike our farming friends, this harvest, one cultivated by faith, is absolutely guaranteed." - - Christine Hoover, "Three Lessons from the Farmer About Faith", Desiring God.
I think this is the difference of our faith from farming...we have absolute guarantee of seeing our harvest one day if we keep simply trust our Sovereign and Providential GOD and do the hard work of cultivating, watering and weeding the soil until the day of harvest.
Together with my word for the year -CULTIVATE, I have looked into God's Word for a Bible verse that will remind me to go back to the source of all growth, the one who makes me blossom through all these cultivation. The Bible passage that really spoke to me is PSALM 85:11-12. "Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield it's increase."
You will not see the exact word CULTIVATE here but I really love how it describes how believers and Jesus followers grow in total dependence on GOD's providence and like the farmer who continuously till, cultivate, weed and water with faith like that of a farmer looking forward to its reward and harvest that is "absolutely guaranteed"!
I want to till the soil in me and get it ready for planting (God's Word); to continuously weed and water for growing (in the Word and sharing it with others); and finally to hope and trust for harvest (when I finally see my Lord and Savior)! And so, with CULTIVATE as my word for the year, I want to further grow in the gospel through faithful practice of spiritual disciplines like the study of God's word, prayer, fellowship, worship, rest and hospitality. I hope you have a focus for this year, even if it is not a word for the year, and may we all continue to grow in FAITH and always BE BLESSED!