Mike Franklin
“Where there are no oxen, the stalls are clean, but from the strength of the ox comes an abundant harvest.” – Proverbs 14:4-6
My dad grew up plowing with a mule. An ox, like a mule, is a messy creature – muck out a few stalls and you’ll know exactly what I mean. Yet, before tractors, a farmer could not do his work without his beast of burden to plow the ground. The value of the ox, or mule, outweighed the smelliness of an unclean stall. The farmer knew what he received from having oxen came with hard work and inconveniences, but without the mess, there was no harvest.
Some of us want the harvest, but we don’t want the mess. We want relationships, but we don’t want heartache. We want something different, but we fear change. We want reconciliation, but we don’t want to forgive.
Sometimes when we go into battle we forget our part. I often remind myself of David, the young boy who went up against Goliath. He expected the miracle from God, yet he picked up five stones for his slingshot. Daniel walked into the lion’s den. Esther went before the King. Moses stuck his staff into the Red Sea. When we go into battle, whatever it might be (cancer, divorce, loss of job, broken relationship, addiction), we must plan to do our part.
When I was a boy, there was an older man in our church who hadn’t seen his son in over 20 years. I have no idea what happened between them, but, from overhearing the conversations of Joe and my dad, I do know his heart was broken. With each passing day, Joe became more and more bitter. He seemed lost, as if a part of him left and hadn’t come back. Joe walked with a limp, but no one knew why. My dad often said it was his body’s reaction to grief over the lost relationship with his son.
Joe passed having never reconnected with his son.
At his funeral, my dad spoke with the son as they stood around Joe’s casket. “You know, I waited and waited for my dad to call me,” his son said with tears flowing down his face. “I prayed God would miraculously change things between us, but He never did.”
“Maybe God needed you to call him,” my dad said, putting his arm around his shoulders. “He loved you tremendously.”
The messy part may be our important part which brings the answer from God. Whatever you are facing today, make sure you are asking God what your part in the process may be. It could be the key ingredient to receiving your miracle.
Mike Franklin is the pastor at The Torch in Demorest.