Eyes On Jesus

Early this morning as I was lying in bed, I heard a pitter-patter on our tin roof, and we heard the noise which warms the heart of every farmer.
It was starting to rain.
It has been very, very dry on the farm.
And it reminded me of a story many, many years ago, when I was growing seed maize, a very expensive crop, and we were going through a very difficult time of drought.
My oldest son, Andy, came back from university, and he saw the way his mother and I were taking strain, and he said, “Why don’t you go away for a few days, dad? You can’t do anything on the farm. Everything has come to a deadlock because of the drought, and I will look after the farm for you.”
And the maize crop was only about 6 inches high and it was starting to really take strain. Every morning those little plants would stand up but by 9/10 o’clock, they started to twist and they started looking like onions rather than maize plants.
The one day, Andy went out into the middle of the field with the pick-up, and he got out and he got on his knees in the dust and he prayed and he said, “Lord”, looking up at the clouds and the wind, and he said, “Lord, please send rain.”
And he told me, he said, “Dad, big black clouds came over the mountains from the Westside”, where our rain comes from. He was so excited. He started jumping up and down. The black clouds came over the farm and big drops of rain started to fall on that parched crop.
But then a wind came up from the east and it split the cloud right down the middle and the rain went into the mountains and we got no rain.
He was so despondent, the young man, he drove back to the farm office.
He walked into the office and he opened up his Bible and this is what he read: Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 and verse 4:
“He who observes the wind will not so, and he who regards the clouds will not reap”.
And with that, he repented before God. I think he shed a few tears as well.
And you know folks, after he repented, he went to sleep that night. And he said, “Dad, I woke up the next morning, with gentle rain falling on the roof.”
And he went out and those maize plants were standing up, almost rejoicing, if that is possible.
Don’t watch the elements.
Don’t watch the conditions.
Keep your eyes on Jesus!
Remember, we walk by faith and not by sight.