Talk Notes
You Reap After You Sow – Talk Notes
Transcript
0:00:00.000,0:00:05.160
Hello and welcome to The Overflow Podcast. My name
is Craig Booker. The title of this
0:00:05.160,0:00:10.200
episode is You Reap After You Sow. A lot
of the material for this week’s episode
0:00:10.200,0:00:16.020
was inspired by Craig Groechel’s book The Power
to Change Mastering the Habits that Matter Most.
0:00:16.800,0:00:23.220
Note: I will talk a lot about mental health, but
please note this is not a substitute for therapy
0:00:23.220,0:00:28.200
or mental health care I am not a counselor or
a physician if you need help with mental health
0:00:28.200,0:00:33.720
challenges please find a qualified mental health
professional. The title of this episode is You Reap
0:00:33.720,0:00:41.820
After You Sow. Just to kind of summarize like we
are now kind of heading into the last section of
0:00:41.820,0:00:47.640
this book or this particular week’s message is the
last in section four, and I think there’s a section
0:00:47.640,0:00:59.280
five of the power to change we’ve been talking
about this concept of sewing and reaping. So in
0:00:59.280,0:01:04.620
the last episode we talked about You Reap More
than You Sow, And the week prior we an episode
0:01:04.620,0:01:10.320
prior to that we talked about You Reap What You
Sow. And so this is the last kind of in the series
0:01:10.320,0:01:19.380
or this section and we’re talking about You Reap
After You Sow. And we’re looking at this all right
0:01:19.380,0:01:28.200
we’re looking at habits from the metaphor of
sowing seeds and reaping um and uh a concept
0:01:28.200,0:01:35.760
that would have been you know really well known
to people in biblical days is the idea of sewing
0:01:35.760,0:01:43.680
and reaping and Farmers know that you not only
reap what you sow but you also reap after you sow
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you plant in one season and then you have to wait
until another season for the Harvest and the same
0:01:52.560,0:01:58.980
as thing is true in life but we often miss this
and that’s why we get discouraged that’s why we
0:01:58.980,0:02:05.760
wrongly conclude that small decisions don’t
matter it’s why we’re tempted to quit and so
0:02:06.900,0:02:14.340
you know you may think that it’s silly to think
if you think of planting a crop no matter what it
0:02:14.340,0:02:19.080
is it would be silly to think that you’re going
to plant some seeds and then stare at the ground
0:02:19.080,0:02:26.700
waiting for them to come up right away I I mean
it sounds kind of goofy and I think you know Craig
0:02:26.700,0:02:31.740
Rochelle used this in the book this illustration
of you know a farmer wouldn’t take some seeds
0:02:31.740,0:02:37.680
plant them in the ground water them right away
and then expect them just to start producing fruit
0:02:37.680,0:02:44.640
right away it sounds you know that sounds kind
of silly that example but far too often in our
0:02:44.640,0:02:54.960
life we do that that’s exactly what we do and so
when we’re starting habits we start a habit and we
0:02:54.960,0:03:03.060
do that habit or that routine for a week and we
expect all of this fruit to come uh out of that
0:03:03.060,0:03:09.420
one week and that is much like a farmer you know
planting the seeds watering and expecting it to
0:03:09.420,0:03:16.260
sprout right away so I I thought that illustration
was kind of good and making that clear and how we
0:03:16.260,0:03:21.660
need to adjust our expectations when we’re going
about making change in our life Craig Rochelle
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gave some examples in the book he said we get
started doing something whether it’s going to
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the gym whether it’s going to marriage counseling
that to improve our marriage we start eating right
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we start saving money by not eating out maybe
we make all our meals at home and you know after
0:03:44.340,0:03:50.400
say a month we get discouraged because we aren’t
meeting our goals you know maybe we still fight
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with our spouse uh maybe we only lost one pound
after going to the gym you know week after week
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uh maybe we only save 300 from you know making
all our Meals by comparing this metaphor of sowing
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seeds and raping we as you know people trying
to make positive changes in our life can see how
0:04:13.020,0:04:19.140
you know somewhat silly it is for us to start a
habit or something new we’re trying to improve
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and expect results so quickly quote here it
says remember getting the life that getting
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the life you want will be the result of countless
seemingly small decisions done consistently over
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time they will feel insignificant but with
every action you are choosing a Direction
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that’s Craig Rochelle I have a scripture
Galatians 6 9 it says let us not become
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weary and doing good for at the proper time
will reap a harvest if we do not give up so
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we’re deep into starting habits and trying to stop
things that are unhealthy unhealthy habits and
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you know it it seems like we’re going really
in depth on on all of this but I think it’s
0:05:07.140,0:05:12.780
really important because you know unless you’ve
just successfully been able to start new habits
0:05:12.780,0:05:18.840
and not had any problems uh somewhere we’re
getting it wrong and so we need some wisdom
0:05:18.840,0:05:25.080
speaking into our lives to help us realize why
this is important and why often people quit
0:05:25.980,0:05:34.620
uh it says when your marriage or health or
finances or spiritual impact are struggling
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you think it’s bad and it will never be better
you grow weary of trying to make things better
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you tried to change but it didn’t work and that
confirmed your belief that you are pathetic and
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will always be stuck those are lies next
thing is your hard work your discipline
0:05:53.280,0:05:59.700
your sacrifices and your faithfulness are never
wasted your efforts are just being stored up
0:06:00.480,0:06:08.520
James Clear calls the waiting between sewing
and reaping the plateau of latent potential
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or the valley of disappointment the valley
of disappointment we we feel like all of our
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trying has been worthless no this work was
not wasted clear rights it was simply being
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stored so if we think of this idea of all of our
hard work being stored up uh and we’re going to
0:06:29.940,0:06:37.200
reap the fruits of all of our hard work in a later
season he gives the example of one day you wake up
0:06:38.280,0:06:45.540
this is from Craig Rochelle and your marriage
is better than ever you’re leading a Bible study
0:06:45.540,0:06:49.680
your skinny jeans fit again I don’t have
skinny jeans but I guess that’s the thing
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uh you’re debt free you’ve been doing all
of these small habits week after week and
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eventually you see results these people around
you uh that are in your life they they didn’t
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see you getting up early working out praying
fasting going to your support group saying
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no when you wanted to say yes training
confessing sweating holding your tongue
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writing encouraging notes putting your phone
down getting counseling he says don’t give up
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so people around you are not seeing all these
little things that you are doing to make changes
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in your life all of the hard things they don’t see
they see the start maybe they see the end but they
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don’t see all the hard Parts in the middle is
encouraging us not to don’t give up believing
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don’t give up praying sharing your faith fighting
to stay pure getting up early saying I love you
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asking walking forward having faith that God
will free you from addiction studying forgiving
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climbing out of debt sacrificing choosing what you
want most over what you want now don’t give up you
0:08:10.620,0:08:18.660
won’t see the results you want today be patient
you planted the right seeds the Harvest will come
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it won’t be because you have the best intentions
or High Hopes but because your actions determine
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your direction or exercise for this week and
first question it says where have you given
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up and need God’s help to get started again I
think we’ve all identified areas that we want
0:08:42.660,0:08:50.520
to improve we’ve Maybe started some new habits uh
maybe some of them you stuck with maybe some of
0:08:50.520,0:08:56.640
them just fell away you know where have you given
up and you need God’s help to get started again
0:08:56.640,0:09:03.960
uh number two where are you struggling and being
tempted to give up and need God’s help to endure
0:09:03.960,0:09:09.780
you know by now in our study going through all
this making all these changes you know we’ve been
0:09:09.780,0:09:15.060
at this for a while and it’s important that we
reflect on those areas that we’re struggling with
0:09:16.080,0:09:20.820
maybe we’ve been pushing through doing all these
things these positive things in our life we’re
0:09:20.820,0:09:26.520
just really struggling it’s really easy right now
to give up uh where are you experiencing a harvest
0:09:26.520,0:09:32.940
and reaping more than you assume maybe you’re
seeing the benefits of all of your hard work
0:09:34.500,0:09:39.720
our principle for this section is you’ll
reap a harvest if you don’t give up
0:09:40.320,0:09:47.340
Psalms 1 3 of the New Living Translation says
they are like trees planted along the riverbank
0:09:47.340,0:09:54.420
riverbank bearing fruit each season their leaves
never wither and they prosper in all they do
0:09:55.560,0:10:00.180
so in this section this is just really
the push to not give up you’re doing so
0:10:00.180,0:10:03.900
good at what you’re doing the hard work
that you’re doing is going to pay off
0:10:04.680,0:10:10.440
if you don’t give up that’s all for this episode
thank you for watching if you liked the video give
0:10:10.440,0:10:14.220
us a thumbs up and be sure to subscribe
so you don’t miss out on future episodes.
Show Notes
“Farmers know that you not only reap what you sow but also reap after you sow.”1
“You plant in one season and then have to wait until another season for the harvest.”1
“The same is true in life. But we so often miss this. That’s why we get discouraged. That’s why we wrongly conclude that small decisions don’t matter. It’s why we’re tempted to quit.”1
We get started doing something:1
-Going to the gym
-Going to marriage counseling
-Eating right
-Saving money by not eating out
After one month, we get discouraged because:1
-We aren’t meeting our goals
-We still fight with our spouse
-We only lost one pound
-We only saved $300
“Remember, getting the life you want will be the result of countless seemingly small decisions, done consistently over time. They will feel insignificant, but with every action, you are choosing a direction.”1
Galatians 6:9
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
“When your marriage or health or finances or spiritual impact are struggling, you think, It’s bad, and it will never be better. You grow weary of trying to make things better. You tried to change, but it didn’t work. And that confirmed your belief that you are pathetic and will always be stuck. Those. Are. Lies.”1
“Your hard work, your discipline, your sacrifices, and your faithfulness are never wasted. Your efforts are just being stored up.”1
James Clear calls the waiting between sowing and reaping the “Plateau of Latent Potential” or the “Valley of Disappointment.”1, 52
“In the Valley of Disappointment, we feel like all of our trying has been worthless No. “This work was not wasted?” Clear writes, “It was simply being stored.”1, 53
One day you wake up and:1
-Your marriage is better than ever
-You’re leading a Bible study
-Your skinny jeans fit again
-You are debt free
“They didn’t see you getting up early. Working out. Praying. Fasting. Going to your support group. Saying no when you wanted to say yes. Training. Confessing. Sweating. Holding your tongue. Writing encouraging notes. Putting your phone down. Getting counseling.”1
Don’t give up:1
- Believing
- Praying
- Sharing your faith
- Fighting to stay pure
- Getting up early
- Saying “I love you”
- Asking
- Walking forward
. Having faith that God will free you from addiction - Studying
- Forgiving
- Climbing out of debt
- Sacrificing
- Choosing what you want most over what you want now
“You won’t see the results you want today. Be patient. You’ve planted the right seeds. The harvest will come.”
“It won’t be because you had the best intentions or high hopes but because your actions determined your direction.”1
Exercise1
Where have you given up and need God’s help to get started again?
Where are you struggling and being tempted to give up and need God’s help to endure?
Where are you experiencing a harvest and reaping more than you have sown?
Principle
You will reap a harvest if you don’t give up.
“They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.
Psalm 1:3 NLT
Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”
Sources:
[1] Groeschel, C. (2023). The Power to Change: Mastering the Habits That Matter Most. Zondervan.
Transcript
Hello, and welcome to The Overflow Podcast. My name is Craig Booker. The title of this episode is You Reap After You Sow.
A lot of the material for this week’s episode was inspired by Pastor Craig Groeshel’s book The Power to Change Mastering the Habits That Matter Most.
Note: I will talk a lot about mental health, but please note this is not a substitute for therapy or mental health care. I am not a counselor or a physician. If you need help with mental health challenges, please find a qualified mental health professional.
The title of this episode is You Reap After You Sow.
Just to kind of summarize like we are now kind of heading into the last section of this book or this particular week’s message is the last in section four and I think there’s a section five of the power to change.
We’ve been talking about this concept of sowing and reaping. So in the last episode we talked about You Reap More Than You Sow and the week prior or episode prior to that we talked about You Reap What You Sow.
And so this is the last kind of in the series or this section and we’re talking about You Reap After You Sow.
And we’re looking at this all right. We’re looking at habits from the metaphor of sowing seeds and reaping.
And a concept that would have been you know really well known to people in Biblical days is the idea of sowing and reaping.
And “Farmers know that you not only reap what you sow but you also reap after you sow.
“You plant in one season and then you have to wait until another season for the harvest.”
“The same as thing is true in life. But we often miss this. That’s why we get discouraged. That’s why we wrongly conclude that small decisions don’t matter. It’s why we’re tempted to quit.”
And so you know you may think that it’s silly to think if you think of planting a crop. No matter what it is it would be silly to think that you’re going to plant some seeds and then stare at the ground waiting for them to come up right away.
I mean it sounds kind of goofy and I think you know Craig Groeschel used this in the book. This illustration of a farmer wouldn’t take some seeds plant them in the ground water them right away and then expect them just to start producing fruit right away.
It sounds you know that sounds kind of silly that example. But far too often in our life we do that.
That’s exactly what we do and so when we’re starting habits we start a habit and we do that habit or that routine for a week and we expect all of this fruit to come out of that one week.
And that is much like a farmer you know planting the seeds watering and expecting it to sprout right away. So I thought that illustration was kind of good and making that clear and how we need to adjust our expectations when we’re going about making change in our life.
Craig Groeschel gave some examples in the book.
He said we get started doing something. Whether it’s going to the gym whether it’s going to marriage counseling to improve our marriage. We start eating right, we start saving money by not eating out, maybe we make all our meals at home, and you know.
After, say, a month, we get discouraged because we aren’t meeting our goals. You know, maybe we still fight with our spouse, maybe we only lost one pound after going to the gym for a week. After a week, maybe we only save $300 from making all our meals.
By comparing this metaphor of sowing seeds and reaping, we, as people trying to make positive changes in our life. Can seem somewhat silly it is for us to start a habit or something new we’re trying to improve and expect results so quickly.
Quote here. It says, “Remember getting the life that getting the life you want will be the result of countless seemingly small decisions done consistently over time. They will feel insignificant, but with every action, you are choosing a direction.” That’s Craig Groeschel.
I have a scripture, Galatians 6:9. It says, “Let us not become weary and doing good for at the proper time will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
So we’re deep into starting habits and trying to stop things that are unhealthy habits, and you know, it seems like we’re going really in-depth on all of this. But I think it’s really important because unless you’ve just successfully been able to start new habits and not had any problems. Somewhere we’re getting it wrong, and so we need some wisdom speaking into our lives to help us realize why this is important. And why often people quit.
It says, “When your marriage or health or finances or spiritual impact are struggling, you think it’s bad, and it will never be better. You grow weary of trying to make things better. You tried to change, but it didn’t work, and that confirmed your belief that you are pathetic and will always be stuck. Those are lies.
Next thing is “Your hard work, your discipline, your sacrifices, and your faithfulness are never wasted. Your efforts are just being stored up.”
“James Clear calls the waiting between sewing and reaping ‘The Plateau of Latent Potential’ or ‘The Valley of Disappointment.'”
“In The Valley of Disappointment, we feel like all of our trying has been worthless. No. ‘This work was not wasted.’ Clear write, ‘It was simply being stored.'”
So if we think of this idea of all of our hard work being stored up and we’re going to reap the fruits of all of our hard work in a later season.
He gives the example of one day you wake up. This is from Craig Groeschel. And your marriage is better than ever you’re leading a Bible study. Your skinny jeans fit again. I don’t have skinny jeans, but I guess that’s the thing. You’re debt free. You’ve been doing all of these small habits week after week, and eventually, you see results.
These people around you that are in your life. “They didn’t see you getting up early. Working out. Praying. Fasting. Going to your support group. Saying no when you wanted to say yes. Training. Confessing. Sweating. Holding your tongue. Writing encouraging notes. Putting your phone down. Getting counseling.”
He says, “Don’t give up!”
So people around you are not seeing all these little things that you are doing to make changes in your life. All of the hard things they don’t see. They see the start. Maybe they see the end, but they don’t see all the hard parts in the middle.
He is encouraging us.
Don’t give up:
- Believing
- Don’t give up praying sharing your faith
- Fighting to stay pure
- Getting up early
- Saying I love you
- Asking
- Walking forward
- Having faith that God will free you from addiction
- Studying
- Forgiving
- Climbing out of debt
- Sacrificing
- Choosing what you want most over what you want now
Don’t give up!
“You won’t see the results you want today. Be patient. You planted the right seeds. The harvest will come.”
“It won’t be because you have the best intentions or high hopes but because your actions determine your direction.”
Exercise
Our exercise for this week and first question it says “Where have you given up and need God’s help to get started again.”
I think we’ve all identified areas that we want to improve. We’ve maybe started some new habits. Maybe some of them you stuck with. Maybe some of them just fell away. You know.
“Where have you given up and you need God’s help to get started again?”
Number two. “Where are you struggling and being tempted to give up and need God’s help to endure?”
You know by now in our study going through all this making all these changes. You know we’ve been at this for a while, and it’s important that we reflect on those areas that we’re struggling with.
Maybe we’ve been pushing through doing all these things these positive things in our life. We’re just really struggling. It’s really easy right now to give up.
“Where are you experiencing a harvest and reaping more than you have sown?”
Maybe you’re seeing the benefits of all of your hard work.
Principle
Our principle for this section is “You’ll reap a harvest if you don’t give up.”
Psalms 1:3 of the New Living Translation says, “They are like trees planted along the riverbank bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”
So in this section, this is just really the push to not give up. You’re doing so good at what you’re doing. The hard work that you’re doing is going to pay off if you don’t give up
Closing
That’s all for this episode. Thank you for watching. If you like the video, give us a thumbs up, and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future episodes.
