Those of us who live in cities may not appreciate the imagery of ploughing.

In Nepal, I often see farmers ploughing and harrowing the land with oxen, and it is not a pretty sight.

A ploughed field looks like it has been totally destroyed. The soil is upturned in a great brown mess with deep fissures and gashes in the earth, and every trace of green life is wiped out.

It looks woeful.

But then the farmer sows the seed. And in no time, the once barren and unsightly fields are carpeted with green and gold. 

You see, the farmer knows exactly what the land needs – ploughing makes the soil more fertile for cultivation.

It breaks the hard crust of the soil and brings fresh nutrients to the surface. It loosens the earth and allows air and water to penetrate. It buries weeds and remnants of old crops so they can decompose, and it exposes the eggs and larvae of pests to sunlight for destruction.

The Lord knows what He is doing

“Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? When he has levelled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border?” (Isaiah 28:24-25)

Isaiah was writing to a nation in disarray. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered and exiled by Assyria. The southern kingdom of Judah was under siege and soon to fall. 

The people of Israel had been unfaithful to God and were reaping the bitter fruit of their evil deeds. Amongst their multitude of sins, even their priests and prophets, the ones responsible for spiritually leading the nation, had become filthy drunkards (Isaiah 28:7-8).

The grim indictment concludes on an even more ominous note: the Lord has decreed destruction of the whole land (Isaiah 28:22).

But then Isaiah abruptly declares that the Lord will be like a farmer, ploughing the land and then sowing seeds.

Israel, God’s own field, will be ploughed, upturned, laid waste – but the Lord knows exactly what He is doing. Into the chaos and destruction He will sow new seeds and bring forth a new harvest.

Isaiah continues with another metaphor of grain being threshed in order to make bread. The Lord, the Master Farmer, will not thresh His grain forever; when He drives His cart’s wheels over the grain, He does not crush it (Isaiah 28:28).

Israel will seemingly be destroyed under the heavy wheels of God’s judgement, but it is not so; God will one day raise them up from the dirt.

“This also comes from the Lord of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.” (Isaiah 28:29)

Painful but eternally beneficial 

Do we sometimes feel like a field being ploughed? When all of a sudden our lives are turned upside down, leaving only a mangled mess where there once was beauty and order?

Take heart. God may be doing something new, but He first has to plough the soil of our hearts to receive the seed He wants to sow. He has to break down the hard crusts of pride and self-sufficiency that encase our souls.

And there is more to this metaphor. When our hearts are upturned, they can become more permeable to the wind of the Holy Spirit and the living water of God’s Word, if we will turn our eyes to Him.

Only when our hearts are ploughed can our secret and hidden faults be exposed to God’s light and dealt with decisively.

“Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults,” David cried (Psalm 19:12), and God responded by upturning his life more than once.

Make no mistake, ploughing is painful. It feels like our deepest weaknesses and inner ugliness are being mercilessly exposed, and we stare mournfully at the mess that was our lives and wonder when it will be put together again.

But this is a crucial step for our growth and sanctification. And if we endure, one day our lives will blossom as God’s verdant fields, bursting with a bountiful harvest of righteousness, a testament to His power and wisdom.

Think and Pray

1. Have you felt like your life was being ploughed? What have you learnt from the experience? How have you grown from the experience?
2. What secret or hidden faults has God uncovered in your life? How did God deal with them?
3. Is there pride or self-sufficiency in your heart?

This devotion was republished with permission from Sojourn: A One-Year Weekly Devotional by Dr Winston Chin.

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