Love Abundantly Ministries

On the ship, we each got the opportunity to share a devotional before heading out to clinic. As I began preparing, I felt a familiar weight of discouragement settle in. It was the same heaviness I had carried before—God brought Psalm 126 to mind, again. He reminded me of the phrase “those who plant in tears will one day return with shouts of joy.” At first, I thought this word was just for me, but as I prayed, I knew it was meant to be shared. I can’t help but feel your harvest song is already tuning up in the background.

Psalm 126:5-6 (NLT) says, “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.”

There’s something sacred about planting seeds when your heart is breaking—about choosing obedience when the fruit is invisible and the ground feels unyielding. It is a quiet proclamation that the story is not over. During preparation, I pictured a farmer with trembling hands, pressing the seeds into the soil, knowing they will disappear from sight for a time. That farmer believed that the work is still worth it- even if he was giving all he had. He had fields of nothing, yet was still faithfully planting seed after seed by hand. Each buried seed held the whisper of resurrection—proof that even in seasons of what seems like barrenness, life is still being written beneath the surface.

Psalm 126 is considered a song of ascents. A people who knew exile, disappointment, and longing. They had tasted captivity and walked through seasons that felt forgotten. Singing through the journey, that even in the midst of uncertainty, they remembered: God is a God of return, of renewal, of joy that breaks through sorrow.

It’s a song for anyone who’s said yes to God in the unknown.
It’s a song for missionaries, volunteers, and faithful friends who keep going, even when it’s hard. This verse gave me life in a season where it seemed like all I was doing was weeping while sowing seeds of faith.

Sometimes the seeds we sow are soaked in tears- tears of culture shock, tears of language barriers, tears of rejection or loneliness, tears of pouring out when no one seems to notice or respond.

“Plant in tears” might look like: teaching when hearts seem closed, preaching through your own heartache, serving in remote places far from known comforts, saying another hard goodbye, praying for breakthrough that hasn’t yet come.

But this Psalm teaches us: God sees. God remembers. And God redeems. Even your weeping is part of your worship. Tears Are Not the End—They’re the Water!!

Psalm 126 shows us a paradox that grief and hope can hold hands. It reminds us that every seed planted (even in pain) carries the DNA of a coming harvest. Faith in the field doesn’t always feel good. Picture that tired farmer who keeps tending to the field, tears on his cheeks, row after row after row he sees nothing- no harvest in sight. The discouragement. Sowing tired, crying, but faithful.

And then—God does what only He can do.
The same soil that received your tears begins to bloom.
The same village, school, clinic, city, or region that felt dry becomes a place of joy. What you planted in quiet surrender begins to bear fruit—visible and invisible, immediate and eternal.

This is more than a poetic promise—it’s a prophetic one. You will not return empty-handed. The joy will come—not just for others, but for you. You may not see all of the ways now, but you can trust the God who brings harvest in His perfect time. The gospel never returns void. Every word, every act of service, every whispered prayer is a seed and every seed sown in the Spirit carries a promise: joy is coming!