Short Story: The Emotional Farmer

There once was a farmer who went on quite the journey. It all started when God gave him a word about a particular piece of land he had just purchased.

“I will bless the crops you plant in this field,” God said. “I will multiply your harvest 100 times what you plant. So be of good courage, do not faint in your work, for I will surely bless all that you do in this field.”

The farmer was ecstatic! God had personally given him a word for this new piece of land! He would not let God down! With all his might and with a whole lot of fervor, he worked the land to see God’s promise fulfilled!

Friends watched as he plowed the land and mixed in fertilizer and lime. He wanted this field to produce the big harvest it was destined to produce.

“You sure are working hard on this field, giving it all you’ve got,” the friends pointed out.

“I know,” the farmer would reply. “God told me He would bless this field and bring a great harvest. So I’m working with all my might.”

He dared not tell them though that God had promised him 100 times what he sowed. They would just think he was crazy.

Soon the plowing was done and the season of planting seeds had come. This farmer spared no expense as he began planting the best seed and as much seed as he possibly could. If God was going to multiply it 100 times then he was going to pour in everything he had.

“Well,” he said to himself one day. “I’ve planted this entire field. I’ve given it my best effort. Now I can just watch God make his word come true to me.”

If only that were all that was left. Day after day the farmer checked on his field. But nothing was happening. A whole week went by and there was not one sprout!

“Why me God???” the farmer cried out.

He ran to the man who sold him the seed. He told the man what was happening and demanded a full refund! Maybe God was going to give him the 100 times back by suing the seed company.

“A refund on seed you’ve only planted a week ago?” The seed vendor just laughed.

“You told me this seed was the best! Why isn’t it up yet?”

“Give it one more week, just one more week, man!”

And so the farmer went home and called all his friends. “Be praying for my crops,” he said. “I’ve been experiencing warfare and my seeds haven’t sprouted yet.”

One more day went by and the farmer gave up all hope. The seeds would never sprout. He just hadn’t heard God.

Then on the morning of day 10, the farmer saw something he never thought he would. There were tiny little green sprouts in his field! The seed was actually doing something!

“Tonight, at 6pm, bring your family and lawn chairs. I’m inviting everyone out to my field for a little celebration.” The farmer called and told all his friends about the party. He was on cloud nine.

“Who would’ve thought,” one friend said, “that the million seeds you planted would actually sprout? I mean what are the chances of that?”

“My thoughts exactly!” The farmer agreed. “I’m determined though never to doubt God again. He said he’d give me 100 times what I sowed and I know that I know he’ll do it. I won’t worry in the waiting anymore!!”

“Wow, 100 times what you sowed?” The friend wanted to be sure he heard correctly.

The farmer was a little embarrassed that he had let out the enormity of God’s promise. “Yeah, that’s what God said.”

The farmer enjoyed his party and did the best he could to stick to his word to never doubt again. But this year just wasn’t the best for crop producing.

It rained and rained and rained. So much rain and in such a short amount of time created a small little lake on the farmer’s field. This lake grew and grew and drowned the poor farmer’s plants.

“No worries,” he said. “I’ll replant when it dries out. God is going to give me 100 times what I put into this field. I guess it’s just going to be a really big harvest!”

The farmer did replant nearly two-thirds of his field. It was just in time too for the weather was beginning to turn hot.

Summer, in all of its fury came. The sun baked the earth until it turned brittle and hard. The temperatures rose and so did the farmers stress level. His tender green plants were turning into brown dead sticks.

“God won’t let you down,” his friends encouraged.

“Too late. He already has. I can’t just keep replanting this silly field every month!” the farmer exclaimed.

The friends tried to cheer him up. “But it will be good in the end, just wait and see.”

The farmer did wait as the heat turned to drought and the drought turned into more depression. This whole thing was a bust. He needed to move on and forget about the word he’d had.

The hot temperatures kept sparking pop up thunderstorms. The farmer would only watch the radar as one pop up thunderstorm after another went around his field. One even dissipated before it got to him and then reformed after it passed over him.

“Why God?” he cried out once more. “Why are you punishing me? Did I not hear you?”

The farmer knew God was not punishing him but it certainly felt like someone was. He realized God might be letting these things happen because he wanted the farmer to learn to have faith, no matter what the circumstances were. So he got rid of his complaining and decided to do something!

“Come on everyone,” the farmer said to his friends. “I’m having another party at my field to celebrate the drought breaking before it happens! We are going to thank God for rain before it rains because I know he’s faithful and he hears me.”

The drought broke. This time a rain shower that was the size of the whole state came and soaked the land. Finally his plants and field were seeing relief!

When he got the heart to survey the field, the farmer found about half of his field had been severely affected by the drought. But the other half seemed to be doing wonderfully! He decided he would focus on the half that was doing okay and believe God for a miracle.

The summer went by and now the fall showed it’s colors. The farmer knew his field hadn’t fully recovered and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He had lost something he’d never see again. He’d lost things he didn’t even think God could restore. But if God did miraculously bless him he might break even.

“Hey, you might want to come over here to your field,” a friend called and said to the farmer one morning.

The farmer rushed to the field without even getting out of his pajamas. He came upon the field and couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Apparently a tornado came through here last night,” his friend said as the farmer came closer to the field. “Sorry man.”

The farmer couldn’t believe what was happening to him. This was ridiculous. Was this for real? How on earth was he still suppose to believe God was good?

Now the farmer had two choices in that moment. He could forget the silly field and move on with his life. Or he could hold out hope and believe God would still turn it all around. His decision wouldn’t actually affect whether or not his field produced a harvest…or would it?

The farmer decided to see it through. The harvest was never the goal anyways. His goal in life was to live for God, not the field and definitely not the harvest. So if the last word God had given him was for this field, then he’d wait it out until the end because he loved God and not for any other reason.

But man, this harvest was long in coming! If the sprouting of the seeds felt long, this felt ten times longer. Waiting for what was left of the crop to ripen, the farmer made preparations for the harvesting.

Friends and neighbors did their best to help the farmer celebrate as he harvested his meager crop.

Then came the phone call.

“You won’t believe it!!!” The voice screamed on the other end.

“Believe what?”

“When I hauled your grain to the elevator, I was pretty upset with how small the load was. Well when I unloaded it, it just kept on giving.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that your measly harvest somehow multiplied during the unloading process and you now have a check for …”

The farmer dropped the phone. The amount his driver just said was exactly 100 times all the expenses he had invested into his field (not that he had been counting). Even including the cost he had in resowing!

He dropped to his knees and wept!

“Oh God, you alone are God!!! You have blown away all my expectations! You never fail! You are never set back! You are and will always be good! No matter what! Now I see you just wanted my heart! Now I see you just wanted my trust.”

And this time, the farmer decided he’d really, really believe God was good and faithful no matter the circumstances…

…Until next season at least!

**********Author’s Notes************

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share this story if it impacted you and comment below to let me know your thoughts!

Be encouraged! God has no problem turning around your circumstances! He spoke the world into existence…pretty sure he can handle anything you’re facing! He’s just after your heart! Will you embrace the season you’re in and let your heart grow? That’s the real miracle.

When we get to Heaven we aren’t going to regret one time (not even one) when character was worked into us through a wilderness season. Why? Because it’s preparing us to hold glory beyond what we can imagine!