Plowing

I know, strange title for a post, huh?

But hang in there, it'll make sense in a minute.

I read "Springs in the Valley" by Mrs Charles E Cowman.  It's a devotional book for each day of the month.  I've been reading it for years, and I've gone through it quite a few times, but each day's word never, ever has gotten old to me, and it's always so relevant to that day and/or the situation I'm going through at the time.

This morning's word was no different.

It touched me so deeply that I wanted to share it with you, for someone out there who is reading this who may be going through something similar.  May God hasten this word to your heart!

"1 Corinthians 3:9 'God's tilled land...

   The plowing and the harrowing are painful processes.  And surely the Divine Plowman is at work in the world as never before! He plows by His spirit, by His Word, and by His providences. Though painful be the processes of cultivation, they are essential. 
   If they earth could speak, it would say, 'I felt the hard plow today; I knew what was coming; when the plow point first struck me I was full of pain and distress and I could have cried out in agony, for the point was sharp and driven through me with great energy; but now, I think , this means the blade, the ear, the full ear of corn, the golden harvest and the harvest-home.'
   When the plow of God's providence first cuts up one's life, I wouldn't wonder if that one were to exclaim a little; yes, if one should give in to an hour's grief! But one may come to oneself, in the evening, and say, 'Plow on, Lord! I want my life to be plowed all over, that it may be sown all over, and that in every corner there may be the golden grain or the beautiful flowers. Pity me that I exclaimed when I first felt the plowshare. You know my frame, Lord, You remember that I am dust. But now I remember, I put two and two together; I see Your meaning, so drive on, You Plowman of Eternity!'
   He does not use the plow and harrow without intention. Where God plows, He intends to sow. His plowing is a proof that He is FOR you, not against you! 'For behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and you shall be tilled and sown' (Ezekiel 36:9)
   Let us never forget that the Husbandman is never so near the land as when He is plowing it, in the very time we are tempted to think He has forsaken us!
   His plowing is a proof that He thinks you are valuable and worth chastening; for He does not waste His plow on the barren sand! He will not plow continually, but only for a time, and for a definite purpose. Soon He will close the process. 'Does the plowman plow continually to sow? Does He continually open and break the clods of His ground?' (Isaiah 18:24) NO! Soon we shall, through these painful processes and by His gentle showers of grace become His fruitful land!
   'The desolate land shall be tilled...and they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like a garden of Eden' (Ezekiel 36:34-35), and then we shall be a praise to Him!

   

Come ill, come well, the cross, the crown,

The rainbow or the thunder~~

I fling my soul and body down

For God to plow them under.

(A Prince of Captivity by John Buchan)