Winter Wheat

Some time ago (okay fine--it was actually yesterday), I was stressing to God over something that I had zero control over. As I was writing it all out in my journal, God showed me a farmer.

As I watched, I saw the farmer out in his field. He was walking around and stressing over the crops not growing. I saw the overcast sky and how he was dressed, and I knew it was this time of year-- late January, or perhaps early February. He had planted winter wheat, or something similar, AND IT WASN'T GROWING.

As I considered the vision, a couple of aspects came immediately to mind. First, the farmer had planted the seed, but his part was done for the time being. It was not his job to make the plants actually grow. It wasn't in his power. There was absolutely nothing he could do. There was nothing to be done but to wait. Second, it was only January. This crop had been planted in September or early October, and will not be ready to harvest until May. It's not the right time for the wheat to come up yet. It's too cold out. He had unreasonable expectations regarding timing.

We do this a lot with God. Some problems are unsolvable. More specifically, they are unsolvable by us. We can't control the weather, for example, but God can. Some problems are God problems. He doesn't WANT us to try to solve them, because they are his problems to solve, not ours. While I was thinking about this, Isaiah 26:3 came to mind. In The New International Version, it reads:

You will keep him in perfect peace

him whose mind is steadfast,

because he trusts in you.

Okay, good. But God actually brought to mind the beautiful old 1611 Authorized King James Version that I grew up with:

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,

whose mind is stayed on thee:

because he trusteth in thee.

See the difference? I know some people who have a one-track mind. Their mind is steadfast. It really is! But I love the nuance of the King James translation here. It combines intensity (steadfastness) with direction (their mind is focused on God.) If I were translating this passage myself, I would tell it like this:

You will keep the one who is focused on You

in perfect peace because they trust You.

Some problems in our lives we are required to solve. They can be immense, but God is available to guide us and provide for us, and He brings people into our lives to stand beside us. Maybe we need them to help us solve that problem. Or maybe, we just need them to listen, to sit with us, or to hold us through our tears. So many times during my cancer treatment, I would become suddenly exhausted and overwhelmed by fatigue. My sweet wife would come to me and would just hold me while I wept. That's what I needed. Her presence. To be held by her while I cried it out.

I fancy myself as a problem-solver. (If you have ever worked for me and you're reading this, try not to laugh.) I encounter a problem in my life, or maybe a friend is wrestling with a problem, and my first instinct is to try to solve it for them. I am just FULL of advice! But some problems are not ours to solve. Our friend may crave just our presence, and saying something-- even just a helpful suggestion-- would kill the mood. There is a great example of doing this the right way in Job 2:11-13. Job was in a horrid situation. His children had just died in a tornado, all his wealth was stolen, his skin was covered with sores, and his wife despised him. He was a mess!

When Job's three friends... heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

So here are some thought questions. Do we have anyone in our lives who is in crisis? Do they need our help-- or simply our presence and listening ear? (The best help for a new mom might be practical help; cleaning her kitchen and folding laundry so she can take a nap.) Some problems need our active attention; others just require our presence. But there are other problems that are too big for us to handle or are simply outside our wheelhouse. They classify as "not-our-problem," much like that thing I was stressing over. Things outside of our control, such as making the winter wheat grow, are God's problem. We need to just walk away. So maybe let's trust God with the God-problems, and go back inside where it's warm?

You will keep the one who is focused on you

in perfect peace because they trust you.

The sun will shine again. Now walk away, and trust God to do his thing.