Sifting As Wheat Part I

Early this past summer we made a trip to see family in Kansas. One of the highlights while we were there was to visit the farm – this is home to my niece Becky, her husband Jason and their precious, precious children Clint and Megan. One of the main functions of this farm is to raise wheat. We were excited as we drove along the dirt road heading out to the farm, even stopping along the way to take pictures of the beautiful fields of near golden wheat. On that dusty trip, I had no idea that the things I would see that day would be on my heart over and over this summer and fall.
My nephew Jason – well he is a farmer and he does what farmers do. He plants, nurtures and harvests the wheat. He trusts in God to provide the right amount of rain, to keep the hailstorms on hold and to bring down the sunshine! A farmer knows his fields, knows when the grain has ripened and knows when he needs to harvest. He uses a combine to separate the straw from the chaff and chaff from the grain. When he is done the farmer takes the grain to storage until he sells it at market.
Seeing all this wheat and watching Jason that day, I had an idea. I wanted the children in my Bible class to see this! I figured most of my little ones had never seen a wheat field and maybe did not even know what wheat was – after all they live in the high desert and are only 2 and 3 years old.I eventually made a flip chart, sharing this day on the farm with them. I wanted them to see the beauty and wonder of what I saw that day and to see God’s Hand on this little portion of their world. Jason even gave me some wheat to take home (the kids loved tasting the wheat kernels as they heard about Farmer Jason and God).
My trip to the farm was God shoring my heart up for the days ahead. Seeing God's loving hand in the wheat field, would bring me comfort these next few months and remind me that He is sovereign even when we are in the hailstorms and when we are being sifted - so that He might draw us closer to Him, closer than we had thought possible!