July 18, 2015
I listened to a sermon
today upon the suggestion of Garret Holly, a guy from my old school whom I look
up to very much for his steadfast faith and love for others. It was entitled, “Trials/Temptations”
by Matt Chandler. I would highly encourage it to anyone who is seeking some
good solid teaching and advice about trials. Anyway he talks about a quote by
A.W. Tozer and I wanted to share it with you guys because it is such a stunning
analogy of the purpose of trials in our lives.
“Here are two kinds of
ground: fallow ground and ground that has been broken up by the plow.
The fallow field is smug,
contented, protected from the shock of the plow and the agitation of the
harrow. Such a field, as it lies year after year, becomes a familiar landmark
to the crow and the blue jay. Had it intelligence, it might take a lot of satisfaction
in its reputation: it has stability; nature has adopted it; it can be counted
upon to remain always the same, while the fields around it change from brown to
green and back to brown again. Safe and undisturbed, it sprawls lazily in the
sunshine, the picture of sleepy contentment.
But it is paying a
terrible price for its tranquility; never does it feel the motions of mounting
life, nor see the wonders of bursting seed, nor the beauty of ripening grain.
Fruit it can never know, because it is afraid of the plow and the harrow.
In direct opposite to
this, the cultivated field has yielded itself to the adventure of living. The
protecting fence has opened to admit the plow, and the plow has come as plows
always come, practical, cruel, business-like and in a hurry. Peace has been
shattered by the shouting farmer and the rattle of machinery. The field has
felt the travail of change; it has been upset, turned over, bruised and broken.
But its rewards come hard
upon its labors. The seed shoots up into the daylight its miracle of life,
curious, exploring the new world above it. All over the field, the hand of God
is at work in the age-old and ever renewed service of creation. New things are
born, to grow, mature, and consummate the grand prophecy latent in the seed
when it entered the ground. Nature's wonders follow the plow.”
Stunning huh? I was so
moved by this picture. Now to put that in a real life example, here we have
Hayden 1 (the one without cancer) and Hayden 2 (the one with cancer). Hayden 1
had a seemingly good life, relatively easy, extremely comfortable, and prone to
exist day to day as long as her expectations were fulfilled and things went her
way. No real passion, no deep thought, no experience of love, just not much
depth to her life. She is the first field, the one afraid of change, afraid of
the hardship the plow brings, not willing to put in the effort to see fruit
grow. Now this Hayden looks like she has it made, like the field that lays comfortably
in the sun, but at the end of her life what would she have to show? If the
field has no fruit, if her life has no growth, what is the purpose?
Then you have Hayden 2.
The field that is uncomfortable because the farmer is plowing, disturbed of
peace and experiencing pain. Hayden 2 has cancer, a trial that she never
expected. It hurts, it’s uncomfortable, it’s scary, it demands your attention.
This field doesn’t lay out and bask in the sun, this field doesn’t live out in
comfort, unchanging. But Hayden 2 is experiencing life. She has passion, deep
thoughts are constantly stirring in her, she has experienced a surreal,
unconditional love, and there is so much depth and growth in her life. This
field has beautiful fruit, beautiful life bursting forth from its soil. Hayden
2 is going to look back at her life and be amazed at all that God did and how
much she was able to grow from the hard times. She is going to see the fruit of
her trials and think, wow that was a great life. I see the purpose, and I would
never choose the comfortable life.
Embrace the trials with
joy! It seems so silly and so not of this world to do that. When life is going
great we want to give ourselves the credit, when it doesn’t go our way, oh then
that was God’s fault. Don’t choose to be the comfortable field that bears no
fruit, that serves no purpose, choose to embrace the plow. Choose to work hard,
persevere, and bear fruit. Beautiful people do not just happen. Everything good
comes from hard work. A good body comes from the hard work at the gym. A good
marriage comes from the hard work of dying to yourself. A good career comes
from the hard work of a disciplined work ethic. A good life comes from the hard
work of trials. Cheers to the fields who do not fear the plow!
Today was much better for me. I had more energy and I was in less pain. The swelling has gone down significantly and the drain is draining less. I am counting down because Monday I get the drain removed and hopefully the stitches! Right now I kind of feel like a doll that has too much stuffing on one side of her head and keeps flopping to one side. My neck is very weak and it hurts to stand for too long so please pray that with some physical therapy that I can regain some strength! Love you all and I am continually stunned by your support and encouragement.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24
ReplyDeleteIt is an odd thing to think about dying. Not just the end of our life kind of dying, but take any kind of dying. To our flesh, to our pride, to our desires or even each other. Natural man doesn’t want to die. Should the Christian person see death differently? If you look to the truth of the Bible for that answer it will be a resounding yes! God calls us to become His slave. We are bought with a price and no longer our own but Christ’s. God calls us to die to our pride, to die to our desires and to each other. The weird part about Christian dying is that out of dying comes true life. Be it a ground plowed or a grain of wheat, death brings about abundant life. Life that will then bear much fruit.
To you my sweet girl, a beautiful field indeed!