My buddy is a farmer in Iowa. They, like much of the country, are in the middle of a horrible drought, leaving cornfields completely parched and farmers extremely worried about the harvest. After investing thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into planting, irrigating, and controlling weeds, will there be a crop at all?
Last night, I emailed my friend to ask him about the harvest and let him know that we're praying for them. The response I received from him was something worth sharing:
Thanks for your prayers. God has heard them, because we have crops in our fields and there is no way we should have anything. We have had virtually no rain, yet God has produced something out of nothing. A good faith lesson for me. My seven year-old daughter reminded me of that faith one night a few weeks ago. When we were praying for rain for our fields, she said, "You know daddy, God can make our crops grow without rain. And even if we get rain, God doesn't have to make them grow."
This little girl's reminder about the sovereignty of God applies to our first few weeks on campus. Yes, we need to pray, plan, prepare, and perform our duties in order to be ready for harvest time. But ultimately, the results are out of our hands.
I just heard from an MTL friend of mine about his team's first week on campus. They are experiencing unprecedented attendance numbers (750 at their weekly meeting, 89 at one freshman bible study), even though they're not really doing much different than in years past. God is doing it: they just get to be a part of what he's doing.
So as you work the harvest fields this semester, remember the wisdom of the seven year-old Iowa farm girl: God is in control. He is Lord of the harvest.
(Photo courtesy of CraneStation.)
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