Sleepy Saturday- An Ode to Mothers!
by Parris Bailey
“Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” Ecclesiastes 11:1
I feel like a have a good word for Mothers and any Christian who feels like they have spent years of praying, sowing, believing and are still waiting for their harvest. Wise Solomon gives us a word of advice.”Cast (freely and liberally bestow) thy bread (i.e. thy money or provisions, which are oft signified by the name of bread. By saying thy bread, he cautions us that we give away only that which is our own, and not that which is another’s”. It is important to take that bread/seed and cast it into the waters. Water represents multitudes. We have to take that seed and cast it away from us over and over again. Trust not the seed, nor the soil but God himself (I call it the cycle of life).
“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. (Galatians 6:9 AMP)
Another version puts it this way, “Send it a voyage, send it as a venture, as merchants that trade by sea. Trust it upon the waters; it shall not sink.” And another, “Cast thy bread upon the waters is an allusion to the sowing of rice; which was sown upon muddy ground, or ground covered with water, and trodden in by the feet of cattle: it thus took root, and grew, and was found after many days in a plentiful harvest.”
John Trappe said our seed is cast into a “basket of justice” to where God is the only one “who sees”. He is a rewarder to those who diligently seek Him.
So Mama, dry your eyes your effort is not in vain. Like Anna the widow who lived to see the Messiah, remain faithful at your post. Christian run your race and lay hold on eternal life. Don’t cast away your confidence which has great reward. Our test is to realize that our identify really isn’t based on whether our prayers get answered, but our identify is in Christ alone.
After many days; not immediately, but in due time, and when you least expect it. So you must be content to wait for it with patience, as the husbandman doth for the fruits of the earth. I want to you to keep casting your bread of prayer, bread of effort and dreams for
“such is God’s husbandry- do the right deed, go it in faith, and in prayer commend it to the care of God. And though the waves of circumstance may soon waft it beyond your ken, they only carry it to the place prepared by Him. And whether it be on earthy or heavenly shore, the result will be found, and the reaper will rejoice that he once was a sower”. Spurgeon