A Farmer’s Faith Sown in Your Marriage…

"There is work for us to do. Before there can be a springing up
in the soul of any, there must be ploughing, harrowing, and sowing."
~Charles H. Spurgeon 

“Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border? For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him. Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. Does one crush grain for bread? No, he does not thresh it forever; when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horses, he does not crush it. This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.” Isaiah 28:24-29 

How much faith and expectancy comes with farming? It’s more than just throwing seeds in the ground and hoping for the best. It requires foresight, planning and timing. If the farmer hesitates in planting, he runs the risk of missing the window for opportunity that year. His whole livelihood and family is at a stake.

He also understands the importance of knowing when to stop and rest. Not just for his own soul but also the soil – time to take a break, time to wait upon the Lord. Despite all the hard labor involved, without the Father’s showers from heaven the seeds will remain dormant. Marriage is the same way. We are dependent on Christ not just to lead our marriage, but to continue breaking up the hardness of our own heart. We pray that our words and actions bring blessings, not curses to our spouse and home. James 3:17-18 "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

A farmer’s faith brings hopeful expectations and optimism. The sprouting of seed cannot exist without prayer. When the farmer meets with God, he waits eagerly to share what is on his heart. He is confident that the Lord is moving on his behalf and hears him. He believes the Lord will answer him according to his purpose. He also acknowledges the importance of worship! Through singing and dancing, his soul is being renewed. He can face tomorrow with new hope and mercies. Psalms 121:1 A Song of Ascents. “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?”

A farmer also has to prepare himself for disappointment. Regardless of all the investments he has put into his crop, trials will come. They come in the form of storms, droughts and insects. Bottom-line, it leaves acres of devastation! Even though he may feel abandoned by the Lord, the truth is he’s being threshed. The Lord is separating the wheat from the chaff. The Lord is zealous to pull those he loves further away from evil and harm. Although painful, it is necessary for our survival.  To distill Charles Spurgeon’s Farm sermons, there are three important things to remember when being threshed:

1.  All seeds need it;
2. Threshing is done with discretion;
3. Threshing doesn’t last forever.

The farmer relies completely on the Holy Spirit to give him courage to face the day. The Lord‘s providence measures out precisely the amount of threshing needed for the day. Just like the seeds, He doesn’t beat too heavily so as to prevent injury. Nor does it crush it when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horse. The Lord’s mercy knows just the amount of weight needed to break and separate. 
Isaiah 28: 28 “Does one crush grain for bread? No, he does not thresh it forever; when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horses, he does not crush it.”

The farmer also is forced to depend on his neighbors to help bear the suffering. He finds strength through their encouragement and also depends on them for daily needs. The Lord has already prepared people to enter into our lives during trials. Their love gives us the hope and strength to keep persevering.
In marriage, we are a sinner living with a sinner. Which means we have been wounded or have inflicted wounds upon our spouse. We have two choices: we can either run away or we can dig our heals in and prepare ourselves to be transformed.  Joel 2:25 “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”

Finally, after months (maybe years) of tilling in tears, the joy of the harvest has come. This is a time of expressing our gratitude to the Lord with celebration and rejoicing!  Sharing in the bountiful harvest with our friends, worshipping and thanking him for bestowing his favor on our marriage.  He has been faithful to his promise and covenant, even we were not. He has come back to restore what belongs to Him.

In the joy of waiting with expectancy, not only can your marriage be restored, but Jesus finds you! Salvation has been imparted; your heart is being renewed daily. The laboring in prayer has been answered with a faith only the Lord can plant. Your life is now being displayed as salt to others. The salt of our faith is what gives people hope. It’s what brings people to humility, repentance, leading to a life of joy.

Regardless of what season you are in – whether it’s the gloomy winter or damp spring, autumn promises to display its golden fruit in due season. Only by his everlasting love does God determine when the harvest will come. We must not give up but keep persevering!  Do your part as a farmer, trust in the Lord and his timing. I Cor. 3:6 “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”

This post inspired by the Farm Sermons by Charles H. Spurgeon.