Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if they did, the foreigners would swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among nations like discarded pottery. Hosea 8:7-8 HCSB
They sow the wind; they reap the whirlwind. This piece of a Scripture passage has been used in many military speeches and is also found in the title of numerous books by various authors. Let’s take a minute to consider the context of this Scripture passage. Israel has gotten deep into idolatry. They are sowing the wind.
Now if you live in an area that is subject to be ravaged by hurricanes, you know that wind can cause some serious problems. Not only power outages, but uprooted trees and serious damage to buildings and vehicles. Lives can be lost due to wind damage.
Sowing the wind means doing something wrong. It means living a sinful life. For the Israelites in our Scripture passage, it meant worshiping idols or false gods. We love to pound our chest when someone does us wrong and state that we will seek revenge by saying, “They have sown the wind and they will reap the whirlwind.”
But be very careful. You need to understand the context. God uses that on us. That’s not for us to use on others. God claims that vengeance is His in Romans 12:19. Bitterness and revenge on our parts is as foolish as pursuing the winds. Why? Because it is sinful (Ephesians 4:31). We are clearly told in Romans 12:19 that we are to leave vengeance to God. We are to combat evil with good. Sadly, few of us want to do this. We want to make jabs at that person or persons, we want to cause trouble for that person. We want to take any opportunity we have to make their life miserable. We want justice.
Well, my friend, I serve a God of justice. I too have wanted to make someone reap the whirlwind. But I have realized that this is not up to me. This is God’s job. I can tell you from personal experience that when someone goes against God, they will reap the whirlwind. I have seen it happen many times. I can also assure you that if we are not careful, we too will reap the whirlwind.
We must be careful not to speak against or take action against those who have caused us harm, this is God’s job. When we try to take over God’s job, no good comes from that. We must be careful not to gloat when God is exacting justice against that person. We are clearly told in Proverbs 24:17-18 not to gloat when our enemy falls and not to let our heart rejoice when he stumbles, or this will displease the LORD.
I’ve learned to live by the motto, “God’s got this!” In order to do so, I must trust Him with everything including taking care of my enemies. I must also follow His instructions from His Holy word on how I should deal with my enemies. I am told in Romans 12:9 that I must detest evil and cling to what is good. I am told in Romans 12:16 not to be wise in my own estimation. I am told in Romans 12:17 not to repay evil for evil and to do what is honorable in the eyes of everyone. I am told in Romans 12:19 that I am not to avenge myself but leave room for God’s wrath. And what may be hardest of all is what I am told to do in Romans 12:20. There I am told to feed my enemy if he is hungry and give him something to drink if he is thirsty. Romans 12:21 tells me not to be conquered by evil, but to conquer evil with good.
You may sit back and plot revenge on those who have done you wrong and say because they sowed the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. But don’t kid yourself, God controls the wind. When we go against God, we incur His wrath. It’s just that simple. If you go against His will by seeking revenge on those who have done you wrong, you too will be reaping the whirlwind. You might want to think about that one for a minute.
Give it all over to God and live as He has instructed us to live. When we plot revenge or speak evil about our enemy, we destroy our witness. We put ourselves in a position to incur God’s wrath. Is your enemy really worth all that? You’ll have to decide for yourself.
Have a great day!