Furrowing Our Souls

I love spring─the air is brisk, and the soil is sweet and cool. Spring is a long time coming in western Maryland, where I grew up on our farm. I recall helping Daddy oil the blades of our plow, knowing I’d get to sit on the back of the tractor, as he would furrow the soil in our hayfield and cornfields.

That time of year, nothing smells sweeter than the earthy, wet scent of freshly tilled soil─especially when it’s furrowed deep with a plow. Our tractor would cut a yawning channel, flipping up the rich, dark earth toward the sun. It meant our fields were ready to take the seed, water, and warm rays of spring sunshine. When I would help Daddy plant the corn or hayseed, I could easily picture fields of golden grain come summertime.

Spring on our Maryland farm reminds me of this wonderful quote from Samuel Rutherford, a great preacher of the Scottish Covenant: “Oh, what I owe to the file, what I owe to the hammer and to the furnace of my Lord Jesus. Why should I refuse the plow of my Savior, the one who makes deep furrows in my soul? I should not be surprised. I know that he is no idle husbandman, for he purposes a crop!”

Perhaps you are in a season when the Holy Spirit is passing over your soul and cutting a yawning channel. Maybe a deep disappointment, a rejection, or a lingering illness is bringing to the surface deep thoughts and attitudes. Your soul feels raw and bruised from God's plow, but He is bringing it all to the light, so that you might take the seed of the gospel.

I do not mean the Gospel once preached to you when you first came to Christ, when you first believed. I mean the Gospel being preached to you now. Now is the time of change, now is the time of transformation. Now is the time to open your soul to the water of His Word and the warmth of His Son.

Once you were saved, but friend, you are still being saved by God. It is the Lord who is in heaven─bent on purposing a crop in your life, a beautiful harvest of righteousness. Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Oh, what I owe to the Lord for the way He has plowed my soul! A while ago, I was deeply saddened to lose a close friend to cancer. Then there was a season of unusually difficult pain.  Another time, I felt shame when a close friend chided me for hogging the spotlight; for not giving others credit. Those things hurt, but it is not a hurt without purpose. God knows my character is in constant need of improvement; He knows I need to change. I am glad to have Him furrow my soul. 

Let Psalm 92:13 be a glorious picture of golden grain in the summertime of your life, for “planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of God.” Today, don’t despise the plow─the cutting, knife-edge of His Word. The Lord has His hand on the plow, and He will convict you of sin while conforming you to Christ.

Remember the glorious outcome. Through it all, you will flourish in the courts of God. Jesus will be the first to receive glory from the peaceful yield of righteousness in your life. Thank God that He is no idle sower. Bless Him for the hardship, and trust Him in the pain. He is purposing quite a harvest in this springtime season of your life.