As you are nearing what you have worked for and strived to have. Remember the harvest is not the end, but the beginning.
It is when a different type of the work is revealed. This is the season started by the ripening and ended by the rotting. The goal is to have as little of your harvest spoil, as possible.
There are three phases to your harvest: the ripening, the reaping and the rotting.
The Ripening – the eagle eye phase, when you are watching for the right moment (The focus is timing). In order to take advantage of a harvest season, you have to be paying attention. It is a subtle shift in the environment, that signals get set, get ready and then go.
Perfecting the timing is your goal, watching closely for the precise moment to move. There is a cycle and a rhythm to everything, it is easier to get things done within the cycle. An example could be, the athletes that wait until training camp to train, may not be able to complete with the athletes that train, as a lifestyle. This phase is dedicated to detail and preparedness.
The Reaping – the orderly execution phase, when the work of gathering the harvest commences. (The focus is Efficiency). When is it time to hold your blessings or harvest in hand, the system to save time, money and resources must already be in place.
Establishing a system in the midst of the harvest will waste precious resources. This is the phase of Writing the vision down and make it plain. When you are best organized, your mind is clear and the people that look to you for leadership, can follow. In fact people can only follow a clear plan.
Not having a definitive plan, in the middle of the harvest will inevitably lead to possibilities being missed. The best businesses are not the ones with the best products or services, the best business are the ones with the best systems.
The Rottening – this phase is about evaluating. To recognize what has been lost (the focus is self assessment). This is the intellectual and eventually emotional understanding, that the harvest has come to a close and you have missed golden opportunities, that were yours for the taking.
It is key, to own the rotten moments in life. When you have messed over a precious thing.
It is important not to blame others or point fingers or the lesson on preparation will be missed. This is a moment to own your failures.
A spoiled moment is not all bad, it is the most powerful reminder to be better prepared in the next season.
Genesis 8:22
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.
I Might Be a Prophet 