My lone tomato plant.
I live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA where springtime is a frenzied time of planting. It smells really bad in our county, from one end to the other. It’s that magical manure being applied to help supply the ground with needed nutrients for the soon-to-be-planted seeds. The farmers are busy as they move their equipment from winter storage to field after field. Quite honestly there is no such thing as a lazy farmer; he or she is fully expecting a future crop. It is why they work so tirelessly day and night. From our home, we can hear the diesel tractors running through the night and catch their lights shining into our windows.
Soybeans and corn just surfacing
I have never met a farmer who doesn’t expect to yield a crop. They work and labor in anticipation of the forthcoming seed growing into a harvest. And all along the way, there are factors the farmer cannot control, e.g., too much rain, too little rain, wind and even varmints eating the crop. Every time I witness their faith I think of a verse found in II Corinthians nine, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
I am “farming” this year as well. I have one tomato plant on my front porch. I am expecting a harvest, albeit a small one. I’ve sown sparingly and I’ll reap what I have sown, a little fruit. But my farming neighbor is going to reap heaps, truck loads that will fill his barn and his grain elevators. He will feed his livestock and his family for the coming year because he has sown generously.
What seeds are you planting and what size harvest are you anticipating?
I first wrote this and shared it with a victim of rape. She was deeply hurting, feeling victimized and of course dealing with shame. If the enemy of our soul can keep us in shame and victimization, he will keep us from future effectiveness. Perhaps something written below will speak to you and help with something you still feel from your past or maybe a friend is in need of it.
I am not totally sure why comparison is so often our human go-to mode.
Ask God to help you hear your own thoughts of comparison and allow Him to speak truth-filled words over you rather than your own negative or pride-filled mental dialogue. I wrote another prayer tract called, 
“I grew up in a Hindu family and was introduced to the worship of many gods,” said my new friend. “However, those ‘gods’ as I grew older, became more and more aggressive, unfriendly, demanding and evil.” Her family told her this familiarity was highly favored and to be embraced, but nothing about this world felt favorable to her. At the age of sixteen, someone introduced her to Jesus and she received Him and His love into her heart. She told me there was a profound change in her life and she soon realized that the “gods” she carried with her were actually demonic presences or spirits meant to torment her. She wanted them gone from her life.
I really enjoy thatching my lawn every spring for several reasons. The most obvious is that a long winter season is coming to an end, the birds are singing and the perennial flowers are breaking through the earth’s surface. Secondly, I love working outside, especially after a cold spell that keeps you held captive to the indoors. Third, it is meaningful that my heavenly Father has provided a place for me to live and enjoy and lastly, most of all, thatching is a reminder of God’s ability to remove the old, unwanted and dead vegetation that is no longer productive.
What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, mean to you?
A number of years ago my wife and I visited some churches in the nation of Rwanda. We were responding to an invitation to share marriage principles with these lovely, but broken people. Just leaving the airport, we were told by our hosts, “But first, you will visit the genocide museum.” Mary and I could hardly speak after seeing those images and reading about what happened in this war-torn nation. We were wrecked from the inside out and, quite honestly, our hearts ached. It was difficult to gather our emotional selves for the service that evening. As we looked into the Rwandan’s eyes that night, we wondered what images they carried with them.
Our family often had the nations around our table as our children grew up. We loved the cultural examples each one brought to us. I remember in particular a couple from Zimbabwe who we invited from a local college for Thanksgiving. In the middle of the meal the wife told us, “You throw away the best parts of the turkey.” We all had a great laugh because we do not eat the head, liver or the feet of a turkey. But we desired our children to know and understand that every life is valuable to God and His design for them. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of nations and nations represent people.
Proverbs 12 tells us, “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” What does your tongue bring to those around you, your co-workers and your acquaintances? I am personally challenged by my thoughts (not often spoken, but still thought) that do not think the best of others or those thoughts which do not give those different from me the benefit of the doubt. To have the privilege of traveling the world and to experience different cultures is enlightening, while at the same time difficult to not think comparatively, i.e., my culture vs. their culture.
Recently while in the nation of New Zealand, a friend pointed to a fellow teacher and said, “See that older gentleman?” I assured him that I did. He went on to explain, “I am younger than him and I am retired from teaching.” I asked why he chooses not to retire figuring the conversation was leading that way. My friend replied, “He tells me he wants to continue teaching because it is far better than going home and living with his critical wife.”
Steve Prokopchak 