Preparing our fields for rain...

Last night I was watching a movie, Facing the Giants, about a high school football coach that inspired his team with his faith in God. It is a great movie and I recommend watching it. The movie came out in 2006 so many of you have seen it but rent it and watch it again…it certainly will lift you up!
There are so many wonderful tidbits throughout the movie but one in particular stood out to me. The coach had been struggling with what God wanted from him as far as his life…nothing seemed to be going right…boy, can I relate to that! He had been doing some deep praying asking for direction. There was a man, Mr. Bridges, who would walk the hallways of the school praying for the students. After the coach asked the Lord for direction, Mr. Bridges came into his office and had a word from God for the coach. As Mr. Bridges left the coach’s office, the coach followed him into the hallway and asked Mr. Bridges if he believed God told him to come to him with that word. Mr. Bridges replied that he indeed believed God had sent him to the coach with this word.
As they continued talking, the coach confided in Mr. Bridges that he had been struggling but indeed been praying, he just didn’t see God working. Mr. Bridges told him this story…there were two farmers who desperately needed rain. Both of them prayed for rain but only one went out and prepared his fields to receive it. He then asked the question, “Who do you think trusted God to send the rain?” WOW!
God will give us direction. God will heal us. God will bless us. God will answer our prayers but in his own time AND he wants our fields to be ready to receive his direction, his healing, his blessings.  Are we only asking and not preparing? Look at how we live our lives…look into your hearts. Are we really submitting our whole self to God? Are we encompassing him in every thing we do and in all parts of our lives? Are we putting Him first in ALL things? Are we acknowledging and praising him in the good and the bad, the easy and the hard? I know I have struggled in this!
Take a moment and take a walk through your fields. Do you trust God to send rain? Does your heart desire Christ in everything you do? What about your actions, your relationships, and most of all when you are alone, when no one can see you? Are you submitting totally to your Father’s will, is your Lord first in your life, is the Almighty a part of every action, word, and thought?
Preparing fields is long hard work. There is no doubt there…but when the rain falls what is harvested is worth its weight in gold! Start today preparing your fields and stand back to see God direct you and bring in a harvest beyond your wants!
I sang about a fruitful vineyard; I the Lord watch over it; I water it continually; I guard it day and night. Isaiah 27:3

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