Farmers Know Who's in Charge

By Joan Weber

I grew up on a farm. It was a great life for a kid. My brothers and sisters were my best friends and playmates. The pastures and creek that ran through our property presented opportunities for fun and adventure. And my parents were always there. Mom might be out in the garden or Dad in the field, but they were always within shouting or walking distance.

When I look back on my growing up years, I realize that farming was a blessing because it taught me so much—about hard work, about trust and faith, but especially about who was in charge of my life. Every year I watched my father and my uncle labor to prepare the soil, plant the corn, and fight the weeds. They worked in the fields from before dawn until dusk during the planting season, but then they moved on to other farming work. Meanwhile, the soil waited. Once the planting was done, the rest was up to God! My family prayed for rain when there was none and we prayed for dry weather when the seed were rotting in over-saturated soil. But we couldn't control the weather. We couldn't make it rain; we couldn't stop a late frost from destroying fragile buds; and we couldn't demand sunny growing days. All of these were beyond our hardest efforts and our power. What we knew—in the marrow of our being—was that God was in charge. To farm was to "let go and let God" in a very basic sense.

Isn't that the lesson all of us—whether farmers or pharmacists, students or retired people, factory workers or corporate executives—need to learn and live? We are not in charge of our lives. As I look back on the times when my relationships and experiences were chaotic, I realize those were the times when I tried to run my life myself. I wasn't praying, I wasn't seeking the will of God, I wasn't listening. I was too busy doing my own thing, thinking I knew best. I thought I knew what would make me happy. I thought I could find fulfillment in my own way. And I was so wrong!

The older I get, the more I realize that I need to trust God's wisdom for my life. I need to remember that God created me for a reason, and that God wants the best for me. The prophet Jeremiah clearly understood that God is in charge. He wrote: "For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope!" (Jeremiah 29:11)

Like Jeremiah, farmers understand the wisdom expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#27), which teaches that we were created to obey God's will because we were created "by God and for God." The "by" we accept readily; it's the being created for God that we need to figure out. How do we live our lives for the one who created us, who loves us unconditionally, who has plans for us which include eternal life in perfect union with that same Creator?

In The Call, Tom Franzak sings the answer to that question. He sings of trusting ourselves to the one in charge of our lives by saying yes to God's call:

Wherever you send me, I will go.
Send me, Lord, send me, Lord.
Whatever you tell me, I will speak.
Send me, Lord, send me, Lord.

Perhaps this is the week where we can let go and let God in our lives. Let's pray:

Creator God, you made me for a purpose. Help me be open to your Spirit in my life so that I may always do your will, not mine. Give me the courage to let go and put myself completely in your hands. And thank you for having plans for me which are full of hope. Amen!

Spirit Compass reflections are developed in partnership
with the Center for Ministry Development.