For the past two days, my dad has been baling the fields surrounding our house.  Even as an adult, I LOVE hay baling days for a few reasons.  First, I get to watch my expert, farmer dad do his thing, circling our field in his John Deere green (now air conditioned) tractor.  This is a sight I’ve seen dozens of times in my life and it never gets old.  Second, there’s something very satisfying about a freshly cut field surrounding a freshly mowed yard.  Everything just looks so clean and tidy and makes the yard look huge.  It’s always very tempting to take off running through the middle of the field, arms open wide as if I was a child again.  Although, as an adult, I now picture it looking more like the beginning of the movie “Sound of Music” when Maria is twirling on the hillside. 🙂  Finally, my favorite reason is because the smell of fresh cut hay floods my mind with childhood memories and always brings about a peaceful, easy feeling (and sometimes a sneeze).

All it took was a stroll down my driveway, simply to enjoy the view and the freshly cut hay aroma for God to speak to my heart.  This is what he did today and I wanted to share.

If you’re unfamiliar with the hay baling process, here is a quick breakdown of my dad’s steps.  When the grass is tall and green, he uses a discbine to cut the hay and put it in a swath.  Basically, this means it mows the grass down and leaves it laying flat on the ground.  At this point, there’s not much order to the grass…it just lays there, kind of scattered.  Next, he allows the grass to lay for a while in order to cure in the sunshine so much of the moisture dries out.  This is a critical part of the hay process because if hay is baled with too much moisture, it will mold.  If it is too damp, the compressed bales will heat up internally and catch fire through spontaneous combustion because the heat can’t escape.  This is why many barns catch fire.  After curing, a hay rake is used to put the hay in windrows, which helps with final drying.  Windrows look like nice fluffy rows of grass.  Finally, the hay baler is used to compress all the cut and raked grass into nice, uniform, compact square or round bales.

Our lives can take on a similar process.  Much like the grass, one day, we find ourselves feeling good, standing tall and thriving.  Then, life happens and we get cut down.  Suddenly, we find ourselves lying flat on our back, wondering what in the world happened.  At this point, it’s easy to look around and notice all the disorder, dysfunction and chaos surrounding our situation.  Just as the hay process has a critical point, we also face a couple important choices….We can either try to quickly find some order to the chaos so when others look at us, it looks like we have it all together on the outside OR take a few moments to be still, bask in the Son, allowing God to provide some order and “cure” us by working in and through us.

Whether the grass is baled up dry or damp, the end product looks the same.  But, over time, one will mold &/or combust.  If you’ve spent any time on social media, you’ve probably noticed humans are pretty good at making our outward appearance look like we have everything under control.  But, if we try to handle everything in our own strength, over time, the mold and pressure on our inside becomes a huge burden to bear.  I know in my own life, there have been many times when I didn’t ask nor take the time to allow God to work on my hurt, anger, worry and bitterness.  I simply chose to hold it in and press it down…the hurts, the feelings, the words, the tears.  The problem is, those hurts, feelings, words and tears always end up being a stumbling block because it causes hardening of hearts.  I believe it’s one of the tactics the enemy uses to keep us from being everything God has called us to be.  Always trying to handle everything in our own strength, on our own timing creates an environment full of discontent and pressure.  And we all NOW know what happens to an uncured bale under a lot of pressure, right?  Spontaneous Combustion.  We don’t know when we’ll ignite, but when we do…look out.

If you’ve ever experienced a complete meltdown, you probably understand my analogy.  It’s tough to break old habits. It can feel tough to let go and let God.  It’s tough to forgive when we’ve been hurt.  It’s sometimes tough to seek God’s will in a situation when we want so badly for it to turn out in our favor.  I understand.  I’ve been there.  You’ve been there.  The next person you see has been there, too.

From one hay bale to another…You are loved and God has a specific purpose for your life.  My prayer today is that each of us would seek God’s will in our own lives and allow Him to “cure” us as we rest in His presence, fully knowing He is enough.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

Psalm 55:2 “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Psalm 62:6 “Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”

Psalm 16:8 “I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”