The years of Famine

A few weeks ago I was in Haiti. I went to the morning devotions that are held each day on the Double Harvest compound. The man who preached was a Haitian farmer. He delighted in the Lord! While he spoke in Creole, I listened through my eyes. In the background, I heard an interpreter. He did his best to give us an idea of what the message was all about. The scripture was a common one, one that I have heard many times since I was a little girl. It was the parable of sower and the seeds that fell on different types of ground. His message was different than what I have always heard. He asked, rather than what kind of seed I am, what kind of soil am I? Will my soil produce a bountiful harvest? As I would like to share more about that question, there was something else he said that I am pondering today.

He talked about our dreams of good things to come in the future. He asked us "what are you doing today?" The things we invest in today will influence the things that happen tomorrow. What you "sew" today, you will reap tomorrow. The way we nourish the "seed" of the gospel now, will be evident later. This message is full of life lessons. It made me thankful for something I did years ago.

As I was growing up, I was given scripture. Memory verses, hymns, Sunday school songs and such. It didn't seem like much then, but years of repetition filling my soul with scripture was "filling my storehouses." I remember many quiet moments as a teenager and young adult in which I bathed myself with devotions and worship time. I had no idea that I wasn't just soaking in the moment, I was filling my storehouse during the time of plenty in my life. Years down the road, the famine hit. Life became harder than ever. This is when scripture verses flooded my mind throughout the day. Sunday school songs played themselves in my heart without my prompting. I was amazed that these treasures that I stored up in my heart, managed to find their way to the surface just when I needed them! I knew that the doors of my storehouse had been opened. I have been nourishing my soul in the famine, with the fruit of the years of plenty.

Although it was hard to see the point in my younger years, I sure am thankful for it now. As a teenager, I lived for each moment, choosing to do what felt best at the moment. I am thankful for the good choices I made then....I had no idea that I was preparing to feed my weary soul later.