April 29, 2020

Yesterday, after working at the church, I rushed home to hook up the hay cutter to the tractor. I intended to cut hay until it was too dark to see. Unfortunately, the hay cutter had other ideas.

I had no problem hooking up the three point hitch but I could not get the hydraulic lines connected.

I reduced the pressure in hydraulic lines. That didn’t work.

I referred to the owner’s manual to see what I was doing wrong. That didn’t work.

I had Shannon supervise me. That REALLY didn’t work.

After busting knuckles, getting hydraulic fluid everywhere, and exhausting all my energy, I did the one thing I didn’t want to do. I called Dee for help.

It’s not that Dee isn’t always ready to help someone in need. That’s actually one of his greatest strengths. The reason I didn’t want to call Dee is because when he had offered to help hook up the hay cutter the previous day, I had assured him I was a grown man capable of reading directions and doing it by myself.

As I came to the conclusion I was going to have to eat those words. I kept asking God why this was happening to me? All I wanted to do was cut hay. Then, the one thing I didn’t expect to happen, happened.

Early this morning, I was awakened by a ferocious storm that came out of nowhere. Hail and rain poured down as lightening raced across the sky and thunder boomed.

As the storm continued to dump water from the heavens, I realized that if I had been able to hook up the hay cutter yesterday, I would have had a whole lot of hay lying on the ground getting soaking wet. This would have been an even bigger problem than hooking up the stubborn hay cutter. I praised God for the inability to read directions, for busted knuckles, and everything else that had caused me tremendous frustration yesterday afternoon. What I thought was a curse turned out to be a blessing.

While you may not be trying to hook up the hay cutter from hell, more than likely you are going to run into something today that will be incredibly frustrating. Don’t get angry, whine, and moan the injustices of life, like I would. You are better than that. Remember, God always has a plan. We’ve just got to trust that God will bring good out of the worst thing we can imagine.

That’s exactly what Paul meant by saying, “We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

I can tell you the very worst moments of my life have led to my greatest blessings. That proves how good God is. All he asks is that we trust.

Prayer: Dear Gracious Heavenly God, help me trust where I cannot see. Help me always walk on your path. Help me see that you are working in my life through the easy and the hard. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

In those moments when we cannot see God’s activity, he’s still there. That’s because he loves us. Nothing else matters.

Also, just for the record, Dee is coming out early this morning to hook up the hay cutter. I know when he gets here everything will go very smoothly and he will ask why a grown man, who can read an owner’s manual, couldn’t get his hay cutter hooked up.

Why me Lord?

I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.

Tom Robbins