Who knew that working in the rice fields of
Thailand would bring great revelations? The harvest season was over. No hacking
with machetes for these gals. Our job for the next two days was to pick up piles
of dry hay and cover the rice fields with it.
We laid out the dry hay for hours. Within the
next month the burning season would begin. All the hay we laid out on the
fields was going to be burned. Only after the burning would the field be ready
to begin a season of harvest.
I didn’t get it. What good was it to cover
the fields with dry hay? It wasn’t going give life to the field; it was dead
hay. I continued working away…but this question remained. We began asking our
Father to speak to us as we worked. The
things He spoke to me I share with you today.
Our lifes are a journey. Along the way
mistakes are made that bring shame or guilt. Perhaps there also moments that
bring much pain and tears. We wish not to remember those times. So we think focusing
on the good times is the “positive” thing to do.
But as long as we don’t face those things they
only produce a stunt in the growth that is meant for us. That’s exactly what
the hay represented: the mess in our past. And like the hay as long as it’s
left in a pile and not dealt with, it’s just an obstacle.
As uncomfortable as it may be: bring that
very mess before our Abba Father. He will lay it all out in front of you, not
to bring shame or guilt but to prepare you for the next harvest season. What the enemy used to try to destroy you,
our Daddy uses to bring life into you. The sin of our past is like the hay when
it’s burned, no trace of it is left.
Not a moment of our life goes to waste, even the mistakes…He uses it all
to give life.
Not a moment of our life goes to waste, even the mistakes…He uses it all to give life.
