Plowing In Hope And Threshing In Hope

“Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.” (1 Corinthians 9:10). Paul presents to us two kinds of hope, or hope in two very different stages. Plowing in hope is the easy and fun kind of hope. Getting the field ready for planting is not in and of itself easy, but however hard the work, we are sustained by the image of the field overflowing with the fruits of our labor. We don’t yet have to consider or contend with birds coming to snatch up our carefully planted seeds, or struggle to root out the vicious weeds that choke out our crops, or watch our hard efforts wither under the blasting heat of the sun. Before the first seed is planted, our hope is boundless and perfect and unmarred by tragedy or disappointment. At the end of the harvest we are also to thresh in hope. Perhaps the harvest was not as we imagined it. Perhaps we sit there staring at the pile of seeds and chaff and to us it looks more chaff than seeds. Our glorious vision was not so easily obtained as we had imagined when we first started plowing, and never fully realized despite our best efforts. But as we thresh in hope, as we winnow away all of the chaff of disappointment and disillusionment and let the cleansing wind sweep away all but the fruits of our labor, we will realize that our hope and our efforts were not wasted.