Meeting the Son

It was a slow morning and my body just didn’t feel like dragging itself out to the garden.  Gardening in the tropics is very challenging and often sorely discouraging.  Eventually I made it out there but much later than my typical time and certainly lacking in enthusiasm.

“Sista, let de sun meet you in de field.”  Not a rebuke but rather they were words of gentle encouragement spoken by my friend and field helper, Joseph Keitor.  Joseph knows that I am usually in the garden very early but this day I was just plain weary in my flesh and could not get motivated.

More than 25 years ago I had learned the value of being early to the field when we were dedicated large-scale home gardeners.  But somehow hearing the thought expressed in this simple form made it more poignant.  Among Sierra Leoneans, the Mende tribal people are known for their love of agriculture.  Their uncluttered world view keeps life reduced to its basic elements and they say things plainly.  I like that simplicity.

As I went about my morning garden chores that day I found my heart meditating on this simple thought.  But then, as bright as the sunrise itself, it dawned on me that the expression could be taken another way: Let the SON meet you in the field!

This gave me pause and sitting in the garden I began to examine my heart.  Am I laboring where the Son has put me?  Am I accomplishing that labor with love, skill, motivation, and dedication?  Do I cheerfully set about the tasks which each new sunrise brings?  Have I been true to the trust he left me, seeking to do my best?  When I am weary, do I go to Him that my soul may be refreshed to continue in the labor He has given me?  Will Jesus find me watching, waiting, praying, serving, loving?  I have been given a field; a precious gift from the Lord of the harvest Himself.  The prayer of my heart that morning became – Father, please strengthen me that at His coming, the Son will meet me in His field.