While I was away in Nebraska and South Dakota I wrote down things that I saw as God led me out of my slump of not writing. I feel as though I have been uninspired for over a year. I have been in an intense brain-fog for several years as I have been plagued with iron and thyroid issues. I am now trying to get back to the place I was before and listen when He speaks to me.
In South Dakota the hills start off gently rolling, but you can see for miles on the high peaks of these hills. The 2 states of Nebraska and South Dakota blend together in their beauty. These hills are not for decoration, it is farmland. This land has a purpose to it. Some hills and fields were dark and rich with over turned earth. It had already been worked over and over again and was ready for planting. Some were brown with old crops that had been cut last season and left to lay fallow until the season is right to begin the work that would take months. The life of a farmer is not easy. They have to wait on favorable conditions to see if they will get a good return on their investments. The rain and snow these farms had recently makes it a day to day guesswork as to when they can get into the field. They can't merely go when they want to, it is definitely a fine science as to when conditions would be favorable. It is not only the crops they have to worry about, but the conditions of the ground as well. A wet ground would tear up all their hard work, but they get antsy waiting because the longer their crops sit- they take a chance of it being past time to harvest before it begins to rot or gets overcooked by the sun. The wind that blows gently there can be both a hindrance or a help. It can help dry the earth so they can get the tractors in there, but it can be a hindrance if it over dries the crops.
I thought as I wrote a lot of things down that it was specifically for memories for myself. One of my best friends told me to write things down so I would remember and make a scrapbook of our trip, but God is leading me in a different direction than originally planned. See, we are like those gently rolling hills. We have a purpose just as they do. We could allow those fields, like our hearts, to be merely decoration for a beautiful countryside. Aesthetically beautiful, but having no purpose in life. We can stay the same and just let the conditions of the world erode us and shape us on the whims of the wind, rain, sun and snow. We could allow our purpose to be changed, because we don't care enough to take a chance. We have a purpose with God. Sometimes it doesn't look as though we have been set aside for His purpose, but that is only because we haven't taken the time or the heart to be prepared for the seed of His Word. His Word is hidden in our hearts, His purpose is hidden there as well. If we do not take the time to prepare that soil (heart) and allow it to be overturned again and again, broken up and changed, how are we supposed to be ready to grow? How are we to be harvested if we do not grow?
We cannot allow our hearts to be so hard and rocky like a desert place and then expect it to produce a bountiful harvest. Hard rocky places produce shrubs and thorny trees, cacti and harsh conditions that no one wants to go near. When we become like these hard rocky places we as people are bitter and resentful. We do not forgive. We think everyone is out to get us or has already done us wrong. We hate pretty much everyone and everything. I know because I was that rocky place for many years. We fail to see goodness and we fail to see God in anything.
We have to allow our hearts to be worked by the Lord. We have to become like a field that is being prepared for a harvest. We have to have faith for the ensuing harvest, no matter what world conditions tell us. Sometimes, we have prepared and done everything right and the harvest doesn't happen and I have learned that it is okay. It is a lesson in patience and faith that will serve me better the next time. Sometimes we think we have been prepared enough and so jump ahead of the plans God has for us and we find out we aren't as prepared as we thought we were. We will either find ourselves mad, upset and full of harshness towards God (been there), or we find ourselves with a contrite heart and a willingness to start over and listen closer to what He is saying.
I have found that despite my failings God is still willing to use me for His purposes. He has a reason for everything I achieve and everything that I fail at. He has a reason for every new friendship and every broken relationship. It always involves growth no matter the situation. So I ask these questions: What in your life has God been preparing you for? What do you think your purpose is in the eyes of God? How will this purpose and harvest effect things of eternity? Are the things you are preparing for and waiting on a harvest for to serve selfish desires and wanton thoughts, or are they to serve the kingdom of God in some way? Has your heart been laying fallow and your thoughts been scattered? Are you relying on someone else to tell you your purpose instead of God? Are you allowing others to tell you what the Word says instead of seeking It out on your own and letting it renew the breath of life within you- the Word that is already in your heart? Don't let this opportunity to renew your field pass you by. Don't be aesthetically beautiful and have no real purpose other than to be a thing to be looked at and admired for only that purpose- for it is fleeting and is soon replaced or eroded. Allow yourself to be toiled and changed for the purpose God has for you. It is sometimes scary, but then so is this world- imagine what it is like for the unsaved- those fields without a purpose- and think again about your fear. Be Bold and Be Moved... Psalm 85:12...Indeed the LORD will give what is good, And our land will yield its produce.
In South Dakota the hills start off gently rolling, but you can see for miles on the high peaks of these hills. The 2 states of Nebraska and South Dakota blend together in their beauty. These hills are not for decoration, it is farmland. This land has a purpose to it. Some hills and fields were dark and rich with over turned earth. It had already been worked over and over again and was ready for planting. Some were brown with old crops that had been cut last season and left to lay fallow until the season is right to begin the work that would take months. The life of a farmer is not easy. They have to wait on favorable conditions to see if they will get a good return on their investments. The rain and snow these farms had recently makes it a day to day guesswork as to when they can get into the field. They can't merely go when they want to, it is definitely a fine science as to when conditions would be favorable. It is not only the crops they have to worry about, but the conditions of the ground as well. A wet ground would tear up all their hard work, but they get antsy waiting because the longer their crops sit- they take a chance of it being past time to harvest before it begins to rot or gets overcooked by the sun. The wind that blows gently there can be both a hindrance or a help. It can help dry the earth so they can get the tractors in there, but it can be a hindrance if it over dries the crops.
I thought as I wrote a lot of things down that it was specifically for memories for myself. One of my best friends told me to write things down so I would remember and make a scrapbook of our trip, but God is leading me in a different direction than originally planned. See, we are like those gently rolling hills. We have a purpose just as they do. We could allow those fields, like our hearts, to be merely decoration for a beautiful countryside. Aesthetically beautiful, but having no purpose in life. We can stay the same and just let the conditions of the world erode us and shape us on the whims of the wind, rain, sun and snow. We could allow our purpose to be changed, because we don't care enough to take a chance. We have a purpose with God. Sometimes it doesn't look as though we have been set aside for His purpose, but that is only because we haven't taken the time or the heart to be prepared for the seed of His Word. His Word is hidden in our hearts, His purpose is hidden there as well. If we do not take the time to prepare that soil (heart) and allow it to be overturned again and again, broken up and changed, how are we supposed to be ready to grow? How are we to be harvested if we do not grow?
We cannot allow our hearts to be so hard and rocky like a desert place and then expect it to produce a bountiful harvest. Hard rocky places produce shrubs and thorny trees, cacti and harsh conditions that no one wants to go near. When we become like these hard rocky places we as people are bitter and resentful. We do not forgive. We think everyone is out to get us or has already done us wrong. We hate pretty much everyone and everything. I know because I was that rocky place for many years. We fail to see goodness and we fail to see God in anything.
We have to allow our hearts to be worked by the Lord. We have to become like a field that is being prepared for a harvest. We have to have faith for the ensuing harvest, no matter what world conditions tell us. Sometimes, we have prepared and done everything right and the harvest doesn't happen and I have learned that it is okay. It is a lesson in patience and faith that will serve me better the next time. Sometimes we think we have been prepared enough and so jump ahead of the plans God has for us and we find out we aren't as prepared as we thought we were. We will either find ourselves mad, upset and full of harshness towards God (been there), or we find ourselves with a contrite heart and a willingness to start over and listen closer to what He is saying.
I have found that despite my failings God is still willing to use me for His purposes. He has a reason for everything I achieve and everything that I fail at. He has a reason for every new friendship and every broken relationship. It always involves growth no matter the situation. So I ask these questions: What in your life has God been preparing you for? What do you think your purpose is in the eyes of God? How will this purpose and harvest effect things of eternity? Are the things you are preparing for and waiting on a harvest for to serve selfish desires and wanton thoughts, or are they to serve the kingdom of God in some way? Has your heart been laying fallow and your thoughts been scattered? Are you relying on someone else to tell you your purpose instead of God? Are you allowing others to tell you what the Word says instead of seeking It out on your own and letting it renew the breath of life within you- the Word that is already in your heart? Don't let this opportunity to renew your field pass you by. Don't be aesthetically beautiful and have no real purpose other than to be a thing to be looked at and admired for only that purpose- for it is fleeting and is soon replaced or eroded. Allow yourself to be toiled and changed for the purpose God has for you. It is sometimes scary, but then so is this world- imagine what it is like for the unsaved- those fields without a purpose- and think again about your fear. Be Bold and Be Moved... Psalm 85:12...Indeed the LORD will give what is good, And our land will yield its produce.
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