A Farmer’s Simple Faith #2

Talk about a snowy couple of day in these here parts! Now I know some folks like having some snow for Christmas but this kinda over did it! I just got done spending over 12 hours working today because of the snow storm and it sure didn’t feel like Christmas one bit to me, snow or no snow. No special meals or visiting or anything. Just plow snow and after the snow was plowed, feed the animals until after dark tonight. I’m sure somewhere in the upper midwest there’s some folks sitting at their dinner table with some delicious roast beef being served and the wife says to the husband, “Honey, isn’t this the most Christmasy Christmas we’ve had in a long while with this beautiful snow!” As the aroma of the roast beef just sets the mood. Neither knows that where that delicious roast beef comes from the farmer is working himself half to death trying to feed the beef so they can someday become roasts! Fighting the wet heavy snow all day from dawn till after dark. But such is life.

Oh well, all is well in spite of the heavy dumping of snow this Christmas here on the farm. Besides, I can’t complain that I got fat over the holiday. Now to screw my head on straight and get some things done around this place because Sunday’s coming and I don’t have anything prepared at all for church. Then again I hardly ever have anything prepared for speaking in church until I’m warming up the car to go to church. But I do get ideas in my head when I’m plowing snow in the Bobcat all day. One verse, or verses, that is sticking in my head is one I read over and over, especially in January when the yearly Bible readings are just starting. Its in Genesis, chapter 32.
²² And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. ²³ He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. ²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. ²⁵ Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶ And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
²⁷ So He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
²⁸ And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

As I said, this has been burning in me the last two days. The part of this that is sticking in my head is,

But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

I will not let you go. Now I’ve read these verses many times in the past and to be honest they were what I call passover verses. A few verses here and there that a fella reads but really doesn’t dwell on them at all.Just read to get to the next part, it happens. Lately though I’m understanding these verses a bit more. Now I’m probably not the normal type of Bible explainer, and sometimes I might be way off in left field, I don’t know, but I try. Let me back track here a moment.With the old year durn near wrapped up the last few days I was also thinking about the way this farm ran on faith this past year, something that it never really did before. Faith was put into action as I’ve written quite a few times this past year. In fact it was such a new direction I even stopped all the previous blogs and just settled in on this one. Simple faith as I explain it or understand it is wrapped up in that verse above! I will not let you go unless you bless me! Not letting go of the promises of God!

But that’s not all. Simple faith, like a farmer has, is a demanding faith! A loud faith! Anyway mine is. But some might say, “Now Tom, we are to be quiet and humble.” Correct in many cases, but not in faith matters we ain’t. The Gospels are full of people that grabbed onto their faith, sometimes almost violently and wouldn’t let go! And these were many of the folks that Jesus noticed and answered their faith with results. Take in Mark chapter 10;

⁴⁶ Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
⁴⁸ Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
⁴⁹ So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”
⁵⁰ And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
⁵¹ So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”
⁵² Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

Jesus is going through the city of Jericho, making His way to Jerusalem to be sacrificed.There were crowds in Jericho as He passed through and He stopped for none of them as He went with determination to the cross. But what stopped Him? A blind beggar that wouldn’t shut up! A blind beggar that wouldn’t let go! Hmm, see the similarity here? Or how about Mark chapter 5;

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
²⁹ Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. ³⁰ And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
³¹ But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
³² And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. ³³ But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

This woman wouldn’t take no for an answer, she went for it! Think about this, having an issue of blood made her unclean in Hebrew culture. She wasn’t even allowed amongst people by law, especially a crowd like this. But she wouldn’t stop and say that her problem was “the will of God”, no, she went for her deliverance in faith, a simple faith, broke laws in doing so, grabbed onto the His garment and was instantly healed. She wouldn’t let go of her faith, that small seed of faith that drove her to desperately grab the garment of Jesus! Simple faith put into action!

This was the year of faith as I said and this coming year I don’t know where it’ll go except the promise of even greater things. Great faith in the Bible was almost always done by simple people! Jacob was a farmer, pretty successful too! And he understood how faith works, that you can’t let go of the promises of God!

But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”