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This Was The Field
Have you ever felt discouraged and down?
Maybe you still enjoyed good health, and things were going relatively well, but you fixated on the one thing that wasn’t as you hoped. Maybe you are an empty nester and are having a hard time dealing with the fact that no one seems to need you, as once they did.
Perhaps, you are dealing with the passing of elderly parents. Or, maybe you have recently watched the decline in health and passing of a close friend.
A Sense of Sadness
You know God is still beside you, but you feel a sense of sadness.
“This was the Field” was written a number of years ago at such a time.
—
This was the field
where my children played.
This was where
I bandaged their knees,
and listened
to their stories,
and smelled evening’s coolness
on their skin.
This was the field
they fled,
when their childhoods did.
I alone
remain,
rooted
in a field
of memories,
that so many
summers and winters and springs
have tortured and caressed, in turn.
Other voices call me to come away,
and live last seasons.
There is no one left, they say,
who needs you,
or remembers,
or loves you back.
My heart
bleeds out a whispered insistence:
This was the field
where my children played.
—
Yes, clearly, I was feeling a perceived loss.
Then, the Lord showed me the following verses:
22 For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people. 1 Samuel 12:22 NKJV
13 “If you would prepare your heart,
And stretch out your hands toward Him;
14 If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,
And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents;
15 Then surely you could lift up your face without spot;
Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;
16 Because you would forget your misery,
And remember it as waters that have passed away,
17 And your life would be brighter than noonday.
Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.
18 And you would be secure, because there is hope;
Yes, you would dig around you, and take your rest in safety.Job 11:13-18 NKJV
And stretch out your hands toward Him;
14 If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,
And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents;
15 Then surely you could lift up your face without spot;
Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;
16 Because you would forget your misery,
And remember it as waters that have passed away,
17 And your life would be brighter than noonday.
Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.
18 And you would be secure, because there is hope;
Yes, you would dig around you, and take your rest in safety.Job 11:13-18 NKJV
This passage from Job’s friend is not often quoted, since Job hadn’t sinned, but there is a general truth here. Confessing our sin, if that sin is just feeling sorry for oneself, and drawing closer to God is the answer.
Planting in Your Field
God will then show you what you are yet to do in your witness and work for Him.
There is still something YOU are to plant in that field that remains.
Perhaps, a neighbor or grandchild needs your listening ear. There is always a way to share with others about the saving power of Christ.
Ask God to show you what you are to plant in your field.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
New Joy
There is still hope. There is new joy.
The field, YOUR field, still contains the Presence of the Lord Almighty.
The old IS passed, but ahead lies a harvest of joy.
God is still there with you in your Field.