We are completely surrounded by crop fields. North, south, east, and west. I grew up the same way, on a farm surrounded by corn and bean fields. Twice a year those fields get extra busy, putting that crop in and taking that crop out.
When it is time to plant, you plant. When it is time to harvest, you harvest.
Even if that means eating supper then going back out into the dark night with only the tractor lights and the moon to guide you. Even if that means meals are brought to you out in the field so you don’t have to stop to eat. I can’t even count the times we delivered meals to our farming family right out there in the dirt, climbing up in the tractor to sit a minute while they ate.
Farming takes a big leap of faith. We live in Nebraska where the weather can be very unpredictable. Triple digit heat and drought, pouring down rain and flooding, destructive hail and wind, terrifying tornadoes and unseasonable snow. We see it all. If farmers waited until they knew for sure we would have a year of perfect weather for the crops, there would certainly be no crops. None. Not a one.
Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NIV)
Knowing the uncertainty of the weather, circumstances can look quite discouraging for farmers. Yet, year after year, they are out there working the earth, day and night, planting and harvesting. Taking a leap of faith to plant that seed. It is an honor to be able to witness such a stepping out in faith. And it is my favorite time of year when they get to harvest all that faith and hard work.
Have you ever felt a nudge or a push from God to do something and you thought maybe you would do it at some point in time? When the timing is better, when you have more money, when you are married, when you are older, when things slow down. Honestly, do things ever slow down?
We are waiting for things around us to be perfect or for us to be perfect or for the perfect moment. But circumstances are most likely never going to be perfect, and that is where faith comes in.
God wants us to step out in faith. He wants us to step forward in faith. He wants us to trust Him with those details we aren’t so sure about.
In my life, I can wait and wait and wait, but for what? Am I waiting on God? Waiting for Him to make my circumstances better or ready or perfect? Or maybe He is waiting on me. Waiting for me to step out in faith. Waiting on me to trust Him with the details. Waiting on me to trust that things will work out.
We can’t know everything God can do, so we have to trust Him with everything in faith.
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)
If we are always waiting for the perfect time, we will never sow those seeds. And if we never sow the seeds, there will be no harvest. Waiting for perfection will keep us from so much more than we could ever imagine.
He uses us, as imperfect as we are, in our less than perfect circumstances, to do His great work. We won’t know what He has planned for us unless we give Him the chance to show us by trusting Him and stepping out in faith.
I want to encourage you today: the time is now. Step ahead in faith. He is waiting for you. Start where you are, and God will meet you right there. Pursue those goals and those dreams in your less-than-perfect circumstances and just watch what God does with them!
God uses us, as imperfect as we are, in our less than perfect circumstances, to do His great work. Click To Tweet Leave a Comment