One day in early summer I walked past a lovely meadow . The grass was as soft, thick, and beautiful as an immense green Oriental rug. At one end of the meadow stood a fine old tree that served as a sanctuary for countless wild birds, whose happy songs seemed to fill the crisp, sweet air. I saw two cows who lay in the shade as the very picture of contentment. And down by the road, eye-catching dandelions mingled their gold with the royal purple of the wild violets. I leaned against the fence for a long time, feasting my hungry eyes and thinking in my soul that God never made a more beautiful place than this lovely meadow .

The next day I passed that way again, and to my great dismay , the hand of the destroyer had been there . A farmer with a large tractor , which was now sitting idle in the meadow , had in one day inflicted terrible devastation. Instead of seeing the soft, green grass, I now saw the ugly, bare, and brown earth. Gone were the dandelions and the pretty violets. And instead of the multitude of singing birds, there were now only a few, who were industriously scratching the ground for worms. In my grief I said, “How could anyone spoil something so beautiful?”

Then suddenly my eyes were opened, as if by some unseen hand, and I saw a vision. The vision was that of a field of ripe corn ready for harvest. I could see the giant, heavily laden stalks in the autumn sun, and I could almost hear the music of the wind as it swept across the golden tassels. And before I realized it, the bare earth took on a splendor it did not have the day before.

Oh, if only we would always catch the vision of the abundant harvest when the great Master Farmer comes, as He often does, to plow through our very souls—uprooting and turning under that which we thought most beautiful and leaving only the bare and the unlovely before our agonizing eyes.

Why should I be frightened and surprised by the plow of the Lord, which makes deep furrows in my soul? I know He is not some arbitrary or irrational farmer—His purpose is to yield a harvest. S AMUEL RUTHERFORD

Is not the plowing merely a preparation for the seed-sowing to follow and after that, for the wheat which is to feed many?

When the plowshare goes through human hearts, surely it is for something! Someday we shall see when the ripe ears of corn appear that the plowshare had to come for a season.

We thought it would kill us! And no plowshare goes through the earth but some life is destroyed, but only that something better than that life may come.

Be still, poor heart! God is effectual in working. “Let him do what is good in his eyes” (1 Samuel 3:18).

God will not let my field lie fallow.

The plowshare is sharp, the feet of the oxen are heavy.

They hurt.

But I cannot stay God from His plowing.

He will not let my field lie fallow.

KARLE WILSON BAKER

I have seen a farmer drive his plowshare through the velvet greensward, and it looked like a harsh and cruel process; but the farmer’s eye foresaw the springing blades of wheat, and knew that within a few months that torn soil would laugh with a golden harvest.

Deep soul-plowing brings rich fruits of the Spirit. There are bitter mercies as well as sweet mercies; but they are all mercies, whether given in honey or given in wormwood. T. L. CUYLER

The iron plowshare goes over the field of the heart until the nighttime... down the deep furrows the angels come and sow.

The plowing and 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.

Could the earth 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 for very 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 corn in the ear, the golden harvest and harvest-home.”

When the plow of God’s providence first cuts up a man’s life, what wonder if the man should exclaim a little; yea, if he should give way to one hour’s grief! But the man may come to himself, ere eventide, 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. Thou knowest my frame; Thou rememberest that I am dust. But now I recollect; I put things together; I see Thy meaning; so drive on, Thou 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 He is for and not against you.

“For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown” (Ezekiel 36:9 KJV).

Let us never forget that the Husbandman is never so near the land as when He is plowing it, the very time when we are tempted to think He hath forsaken us.

His plowing is a proof that He thinks you of value and worth chastening, for He does not waste His plowing on the barren sand. He will not plow continually, but only for a time and for a definite purpose. Soon He will close that process. “When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?” (Isaiah 28:24). Verily, No! Soon, aye soon, we shall, through these painful processes and by His gentle showers of grace become His fruitful land.

“The desolate land will be cultivated. . . . They will say, ‘This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden’, and thus we shall be a praise unto Him” (Ezekiel 36:34–35).

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 THE CAPTIVITY” BY JOHN BUCHAN