Hand to the Plow

So you have bought your seed corn. You also still have your oxen and hand plow from the previous season. You have been praying earnestly for an abundant harvest but evidently God isn't going to grant it because your fields are still barren, with no growth. The problem isn't God but rather that you haven't taken the step of faith and planted the corn. 

Sometimes that is the way it is when we pray. We pray for God to bring a harvest of souls but we do no outreach. We pray for God to do a mighty work but we haven't trained our people how to do Bible Studies. We want God to do a big work but we don't want to put our hand to the plow. 

It is the same way in our personal lives. We pray for God to do things for us but we do not want to do the work until we see the results. Sometimes we have to take the step of faith and buy the luggage for that mission trip that God has called us on. Sometimes we have to buy the baby bed for the child God has promised. There are times we have to put our effort where our faith is. Just like the farmer having faith that God will multiply his harvest, he has to put his hand to the plow and plant the corn first. 

There is always work and sacrifice involved in every miracle. The four men who put their friend through the roof for Jesus to heal, had to first tear off the roof. The woman with the issue of blood had to crawl through the crowd people and be pushed and stepped upon to receive her miracle. The manna fell from heaven every day but the children of Israel still had to gather it each day in order to be fed. The woman and her son had to give their last loaf of bread to the prophet before God did the miracle of the unending flour and oil. What is it that God has promised you? Are you mentally and physically prepared to receive it? Are you waiting on the miracle before you prepare? Perhaps you need to put your hand to the plow and do what you are supposed to do and allow God to do what He is supposed to do.