My grandfather, Claude Despain, was considered one of the best dryland farmers in the White Mountains. He always had a good crop of beans and corn, though he depended mainly on rainfall during the monsoon seasons of Arizona, which at times were more abundant than others.

Once someone asked him, “Claude, are you going to plant this year? It’s been so dry; I don’t know if I will.” His response was classic. “If you don’t plant, you won’t get a crop.” My grandfather was a success since he always planted with faith, no matter what the weather forecast predicted, and he always expected a harvest and got what he expected. He understood the law of the harvest and used it to his advantage.

The law of the harvest governs our modern world, though many of us never plant a seed in the ground. Every day, we scatter seeds of faith or seeds of fear in the fertile soil of our minds without a care as to what we are planting. We cultivate and water the growing seeds by emotionally focusing on them. We meditate on the thoughts we have planted, and we talk about them to our friends and neighbors. Then we are surprised at what comes up, and we eventually harvest.

Some call the Law of the Harvest the Law of Attraction, which in essence means that we send our emotionally charged thoughts into the universe and the universe delivers what we ask. In other words, we draw our circumstances to us by the things we dwell on. I am not sure if that is correct, but I do know the Law of the Harvest is viable in our day just as it was in my grandfather’s day.

We look out the window in the morning and see the wind whipping the trees, and we say, “Oh no, it is going to be a miserable day.” We end up having a miserable day because we focus on the wind. We crawl out of bed and stub our toe, and we color the entire day with, “Oh great, that’s my luck.” The day is filled with circumstances that mirror our stubbed toe. We notice the pain in our back and say, “Ouch, I wonder what is wrong.” During the day, we notice the pain every little while, and it gets worse the more we notice it. Often, we mindlessly shape our day by the little things we pay attention to.

In contrast, we look out the window and see the wind whipping the trees, and we say, “Wonderful. No pollen in the air today.” We smile, and the day begins with happy thoughts. We wake up in the morning and stub our toe, and we hold our toe until it quits hurting, then move the obstacle out of the way and determine not to leave it on the floor again. Our entire day is not colored with stubbed toes. We notice our pain and say, “I am so glad God made my body to heal.” Then we don’t make the pain worse by dwelling on it. Of course, if the pain persists, we deal with it, but we don’t let it shape our entire day.

Every day, we stand at the crossroads of fear and faith. We choose to plant thoughts of fear or we choose to plant thoughts of faith. It can be a conscious choice or it can be an auto-pilot choice. Many times, we live our lives on auto-pilot, not even considering what we are thinking about. Our minds are ruled by the expedient or what is happening in the moment. We react to the weather, the news, the traffic and the attitudes of others, not even considering we have a choice.

Joshua, one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, spoke to the leaders of the children of Israel and reminded them of all the good things the Lord had done for them. His counsel applies to us today. He reminded them that God had brought their fathers out of Egypt by miracles. He had caused darkness, hailstones, plagues of flies and death to come upon the Egyptians, and the waters were parted and they crossed on dry ground. When the armies tried to follow them, they were drowned in the depths of the sea. The miracles didn’t stop after they crossed the Red Sea. The Lord said:

And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you …

And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:8,13-15 KJV)

We are not so different from the children of Israel. Our ancestors came from bondage to freedom. Their faith gave us the Constitution and our unparalleled way of life. We inherited an economy we did not build. We were educated in schools we did not construct. We were preserved from wars we did not fight. Yet we blindly live our lives on auto-pilot complaining that our circumstances are not what we want them to be. We plant and nourish the seeds of fear and often ignore the seeds of faith – and wonder why our country is on a slippery slide.

Our ancestors nourished the seeds of faith. They believed in God and trusted His divine guidance. They read the Bible, attended church and taught their children to believe in miracles – and miracles happened. It would seem impossible for the rag-tag army of the patriots of the Revolutionary War to defeat the trained military of the British. It would be beyond reason to have a nation come together after a brutal and divisive Civil War, yet it happened. The impossibility of rebuilding a world after two world wars would seem improbable, yet here we stand. The miracles happened because leaders like Joshua chose to believe in the God of miracles.

It is troubling to think that many of the mainstream millennials are abandoning the God of our fathers and are turning to the proverbial God of the Amorites. They are planting seeds of fear in their hearts. They fear they have not been told the truth. They fear alternate points of view. Perhaps they fear there is no hope for the future in the present way of life and want to change everything into a god of their liking. Some don’t even think about it. They just follow the popular trend of thought instead of making an intensive informed study of their own. They are in tune with the attitude that if you can’t prove it the scientific way, it does not exist. Their answers come from professors who have abandoned truth long ago. They search the internet and find reasons not to believe and sow seeds of fear and doubt at every click of the mouse.

While many millennials gather seeds of doubt, there are seeds of faith everywhere to be gathered and planted. Did the Lord not give us power to walk on the moon? Can we not send pictures and texts from one corner of the globe to the other? Are there not answers to every problem in the universe if we take the time to look? Are not the glories and wonders of nature still glorious unending miracles? Who can build a body that can heal itself? Who can construct a human body that can think, feel and give life? Miracles are all around us. Would it not be smart to plant a few seeds of faith and let the Lord and the Law of the Harvest do the rest?