The Field of James

James stood in the sticky muck of his field, utterly frustrated. He had no idea what to do next.

This was his very first crop and horrible rains came and washed all of his hard work away. He felt truly devastated. Although he was only 10, this young farmer took his responsibility very seriously. He had received a small plot of land from his father and he meticulously prepared the soil, planted the seeds and cared for the plants daily. Of course this included getting up early to water them before school. The rains though had another idea when it came onto watering. Here was this pint-sized farmer looking at uprooted and drowned plants across his little field. 

Although his father was also disappointed, he was sympathetic to his son’s responsibility. He reminded him of how unpredictable farming can be and urged to go again by replanting the field. At first he did not want to. Stewing in the possibility that it all could happen again, but his mother encouraged him to start over. So it was, young Jimmy Carter salvaged what he could, replanted the peanut seeds and designed a drainage system to prevent future flooding. When it was harvest time he did have something to celebrate. Though modest, it turned out to be a successful crop. 

What muck are you standing in as you look back at what may have been a devastating 2024? The passing of a parent, the attack of cancer, the loss of a critical job or client. Or maybe the sad, slow or sudden erosion of a marriage. Are you feeling defeated looking forward to the rest of 2025? There is nothing to fear for the future if resilient faith is found in a never-failing God. There is nothing wrong in grieving the loss, the failure or the breakdown of something we thought we would have had for longer. We all grieve differently. But the power of the grief can be limited by total trust in Him.

As the prodigal son remembered what he left behind, he came to his senses, the grief of his failure disappeared. Because he KNEW his father would welcome him home. He knew there was redemptive power simply in the choice to start again. In the desire to start anew. On this first day of January let the weeping endure “for only a night”. The Son is rising and ready to energize the seeds of resilience planted like Jimmy’s peanut seeds in the soil of faith. 

- YorkAli Walters