Time to Plow

Just outside our neighborhood, there is a huge field.   Being new to the area, it took some fact finding research to discover what the crop even was.  Turns out it is a crop of sugar beets. I will tell you a little secret, because I am a curious soul, one time when we were out walking I plucked a plant to see if I could tell what it was --  I couldn't,  I just got roots.  (My apologies little plant!)   Last week, when we were out walking the dogs, we were surprised to find that finally, the farmer was plowing the field and gathering up his crop of sugar beets.  All spring and all summer we watched the sugar beet plants grow from tiny little shoots to huge bush type plants.  The field was a blanket of solid deep dark rich green.  When the summer was winding down in August, we couldn't understand why the field had not yet been harvested.  When September hit, we thought for sure the farmer would begin harvesting.  Nope!  October came and with it, chillier weather, surely now the farmer will harvest.  Nope!  It wasn't until the 3rd week in October that the farmer finally revved up his tractor and called in the big trucks to harvest his crop.  Day and night for 3 solid days he and his crew worked.   The machines they used looked ferocious - shiny wheels of sharp steel churning and turning - loosening the soil and pulling up the sugar beets.  The smooth flow of their system was like a well choreographed dance.  The giant tractor digger (I didn't know what it was really called, I just made that up.) moved slowly along the field digging up and spitting out the sugar beets into the tummy of its partner the sleek white dump truck that was waltzing along by the tractors side.  Once its tummy was full the dump truck sped off to unload and a new fresh dump truck took its place with precision and exact timing. Absolutely fascinating.  We watched for over 45 minutes so entranced were we in the Farmers Beet Harvest Dance.

Upon further research we learned that the timing for harvesting sugar beets must be perfect.   The farmer has to pay attention to the weather and to the temperature and the conditions in order to know when exactly it is time to harvest his beets.   He has to be prepared to go at it at the first sign of readiness.   Harvesting sugar beets begins with the first frost.  The day of the first frost that farmer must be prepared to harvest or all is lost.  And once harvested the sugar beets must be protected to prevent them from deteriorating before they can be delivered to the factory.  Such an amazing process and it is all centered on timing.   (By the way - I also learned that the "giant tractor digger" is actually called a beet harvester.)

I tell you this story of the Sugar Beets because it made me think of how precise and exact God's timing is as well as  how precise our timing must be in order that we do not miss a blessing.

In Hosea 10:12 God's Word declares, "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and showers righteousness on you."

It is time to sow the things of God in our lives and the lives of others.
It is time to reap the fruit of His unfailing love.
It is time to plow through the things that prevent us from being and doing all God has planned for us.
It is time to seek the Lord with all our heart.
It is time to be prepared...
Until - in His time - He comes and showers righteousness on us.
Until - in His time - we receive His blessing.
Until - in His time - He comes again!