Is Your Field Ready?

I hate waiting. Waiting on people, waiting on food to be made, waiting for the next big moment in my life- you get the picture. I went to Zambia to actually do something, to be different than my previous mission trips that wasted so much time so we could “have fun”. If I’m going to go halfway across the world, it’s going to be to work for God as much as I can.

But God has a really funny way of taking your plans and saying “oh that’s cute you made your own plans” and then doing the complete opposite just to teach you a lesson.

Over the past week or two, we’ve been doing a lot of sitting. We’d go do work in the morning, then all afternoon we’d be home. Or we would sit all morning, then go work in the afternoon. At first I was so frustrated, with myself, my team, and with God. Why would God send me all the way to Zambia to just sit for half the day? So one morning I just left the house and sat beside a big African tree and waited. I wanted an answer and I wasn’t leaving until I had one.

Well 30 minutes went by and still nothing, so just when I was about to give up I was reminded of a story. There were two farmers that desperately needed rain, so both prayed to the Lord for help. But only one farmer went out to his fields to prepare for it. The next day the rains came, but only one farmers field was actually ready to receive it.

This story is from Facing the Giants (great movie if you haven’t seen it), and it made me think of a passage in Philemon. In verses 21-22 it says:
“since I am confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. But meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you”

Paul is writing to Philemon while in jail in Rome for spreading the gospel. Back then, there were no set prison times for this crime, so there was no telling when Paul was going to be released, or if he would be released at all. But Paul had faith, he trusted that the Lord would come through for him and provide release. He has so much faith he tells Philemon to prepare the guest room for him.

But God wasn’t finished teaching me the lesson I desperately needed. In bible study we discussed 1st Samuel chapter 13- where King Saul decides after 4 days of waiting to go ahead and force a sacrifice to God because he had not heard from him. Saul’s faith was tested in a waiting period, and instead of stopping and being confident God would come, he pushed to go off his own timing.

So we return to the story of the two farmers praying for rain. Waiting for rain to come, only one prepared his field to receive it. The word waiting is a verb, which most of us forget. Usually waiting is a passive, annoying word that nobody likes. But in actuality, waiting can be one of the most productive times we have in life. It’s what you do while waiting that determines whether or not that time is wasted.

Our host told us the very first day we were here that God would test us all individually at some point, and God was doing just that this trip. Waiting to go and work more on the J-Zone park, going an orphanage, or just going to evangelize to people can seem like a complete waste of time. Like why can’t we go love on some orphans for 4 hours instead of sitting there?

But God has his timing, and it is perfect. We can think that we know all the answers, we know what is best in our lives to do things, but at the end of the day only God knows best. Maybe hearts he’s working on aren’t ready to receive the message. Maybe the people I’m meant to speak to aren’t at the place I want to go. All of these things could be true.

However I’ve found that mostly, it was me that wasn’t ready. In all the chaos that is mission work, it’s easy to forget to fill yourself up. You can only pour into a cup if you have liquid already. The same goes for spiritual pouring, you need time to focus on yourself and God before you go to others. Prepare yourself, prepare your personal field for rain, and God will always provide.

We all have different “fields” that need to be prepared in our lives: it could be finances, relationships, health challenges, an new job, etc. Instead of just praying they get better or praying that God shows you what to do- go prepare that field for rain.

Because the rain will come, God will send it, the question is will you and your fields be ready to receive it?

This is what God has been teaching me the past 10 or so days, I hope it may help you in your lives as well.