Monday, May 27, 2013

My Field of Prayer

          Sometimes God calls you to do something that is beyond anything you have ever completed by yourself. It is in that time that He longs for you to depend on His power.

I arrived in Belize about four months ago. At that time,I was introduced to my new job: 1.21 acres of sprouting green onions. They had been planted in November and were struggling in the first moments of life. They stared into the face of death by fungus with little hope of survival. The question faced me, what next?

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right? Well, those onions bore the scars of that near death experience, but lived on to sing another verse. The next trial soon arrived. February marked the beginning of dry season in Belize. The ground would go for weeks without a drop of liquid life. There is no human replacement for God's gift of rain. The irrigation system was constantly supplying, but never enough. Daily prayers were sent up to the Master Farmer pleading for the survival of the crop.

In the critical moments, God supplied the rain and brought the onions through another trial. But, He continued to test our reliance on Him. What first seemed like a little problem soon turned into a nightmare. Grotesque, rotund worms infested the tips of the plants. Days of worm executions followed. They fell by the thousands at the hands of helpers sent by God. The victory of life for the onions was once again won.

A proud parent looks upon a child with great joy when that offspring moves into a new chapter of life. Likewise, we waited with great joy as the onions triumphed over many trials. However, one predicament still loomed: drying the onions before rainy season arrived. Once again, prayers were sent up for the rain, but instead of the gift of precipitation, we were praying for the drought to continue while we frantically worked.  By God's amazing grace, we have sold all the onions. In our greatest expectations, we hoped for 6,000 lbs of onions. God yielded His crop of approximately 7,500 lbs!

Last thoughts:
When God calls you, He expects great things for you. You should expect that He will fulfill His expectations through you.

Even if we had lost the entire crop, I know God would have had a success. He taught me so much about prayer, reliance on Him, and His unfailing love for me. It is impossible for God to fail. It may not be the results we hoped for, but it was His plan.

~"Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.~      Mark 11:24

I'm still in a state of disBelize. God can make a farmer out of me yet.