Fields of Harvest

There are cotton fields along the road that I take to work every day. I noticed them a few weeks ago and it made me feel at home. When I moved to Tennessee, 18 years ago, my family lived in a pretty rural town (population 1000). I had always been accustomed to seeing farmland because my grandparents owned a farm. Living in East Tennessee these last five years, I had to exchange the site of farmland for mountains. While the mountains were beautiful, there is something about farmland that reminded me of home. When I would drive home to visit my parents, I always got excited when I pulled off the interstate for the last leg of the journey because I knew I would see fields of cotton, corn, soy beans, wheat, etc.

Not only do the fields remind me of home and my family, but they also remind me of the basics of our survival. We need cotton to make clothes and other essential items. Soy beans are used to produce so many things. Modern technology is great, but there are still essential items that are necessary to live that come from the ground and not some manufacturing facility.

On Saturday, the cotton fields were full of cotton- ready to be harvested. This morning, coming into work, I noticed that the cotton was gone and was stacked in a big square on the side of the field, ready to take to market. Overnight, the fields had changed. The farmers will take that field, plow up the cotton plants and plant winter wheat or let the ground rest for the winter so it can be planted in the spring.

Isn't it amazing how our lives are like those cotton fields. God will plant us, as a seed, in a location (whether it is a new city, a new circumstance, etc.). He will provide the sustinence that we need to grow and flourish (His Word). He also provides the Son to give us warmth and love and care as we grow. It is up to us to extend our roots deep into the soil through prayer, reading God's Word, and living our lives for Him. In the end, we become that plant that He has desired us to be.

He may harvest us from an area (as I feel like I have been harvested from Knoxville) and will send us to another stage in our live to be replanted and to grow some more. But as long as we look to Him for nourishment and warmth, He will be our master gardner and will make sure that we grow according to his plan.