Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain. All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.
(Isaiah 28:23-29 NIV)
Though at times it may not seem like it, there is a method to how your life is meant to go. God didn’t carefully mold you without also carefully molding a plan for you. And with any plan, there are steps. There are steps to even the smallest of tasks. Before you cross the street, you look both ways. Before you drink from a cup, you pour into a cup. Before you arrive at a destination, you travel.
The plan for your life is much the same. Yes, you must look both ways before you cross the street. But you aren’t required, nor expected, to look both ways for eternity. You must pour before you drink, but if you pour for too long, you’ll end up with a mess to clean up. Before you arrive at a destination, you must travel – be it short or long. Yet, you cannot travel forever, otherwise, you’ll miss your exit.
If there are steps for the simplest of things, surely there our steps for the most significant of things… like your life which is deemed astronomically important in the eyesight of God. Life’s steps are revealed as “God instructs and teaches us the right way”. We must listen. Quite the world, silence your mind, and steady your soul by hearing. And hearing comes by God and the Word of God (Romans 10:17).
There’s a time and a season for everything under the sun according to Ecclesiastes 3. Yet only God can tell us when it’s time to be silent or time to be loud. Only God can reveal if it’s time to work or time to rest. Only God knows if it’s time to plant or if it’s time to retrieve the harvest. You won’t be called to do either step forever. You also may not be called to plant the same thing every season.
Be adaptable. Move as God moves. Don’t get stuck in one level when God is calling you to the next. Imagine if Noah would have kept building when it was time to board the ark. What would have happened if Joshua and the Children of Israel shouted on the 5th roundabout instead of the 7th? I wonder if Peter would have caught any fish at all if he had refused to let down his net when instructed. Timing is everything and listening for God’s voice reigns supreme.
As the text says, there are certain tools and resources used for specific plowing, planting, and harvesting. Don’t use the tools and techniques used on the old level for the new level. Get in season. Get in the rhythm and flow of God’s plan for you now, not the plan He had for you before.
Listen for new instructions. Seek God for the tools and knowledge you need. Then upon hearing, obey the plan of God so you can see His wonderful, wisdom-filled plan unfold before your very eyes.
That’s all I have for you today, reader. Be blessed and have an amazing day and week! Take care.
Quin Arrington is a Christian writer and author with both fictional and nonfictional pieces in her literary collection. Books available on Amazon at www.amazon.com/author/quinarrington