Process and Procedure

September 18

Isaiah 28-29

Psalm 105:12-22

Proverbs 23:4-5

Colossians 1:1-14

Process and Procedure

“Does the plowman plow every day to plant seed? Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil? When he has leveled its surface, does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, with spelt as their border. His God teaches him order; He instructs him. Certainly, black cumin is not threshed with a threshing board, and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin. But black cumin is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. Bread grain is crushed but is not threshed endlessly. Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles, his horses do not crush it. This also comes from the Lord of Hosts. He gives wonderful advice; He gives great wisdom.” Isaiah 28:24-29 HCSB

In this passage, Isaiah uses agricultural principles that the people of his day would have been very familiar with to make the point that God is a God of order. There are processes and procedures that must be followed in any endeavor to be successful. There is a correct order to follow to produce a crop. There is a time of plowing, digging, tilling, cultivating, planting, harvesting, threshing, etc. You would not plant before you had plowed. You cannot harvest before you cultivate. God, in His infinite wisdom, has placed seasons in their proper order and given man the wisdom to know what we need to do when. He has also created regional variations so that weather patterns help to determine what crops grow best in what areas. If you stop and ponder the intricacies and delicate balance of just our planet and consider how minute that is in the vastness of the universe, it will blow your mind. God has set in motion and continues to maintain the perfect environment to meet all our needs. The oxygen and carbon dioxide levels are balanced perfectly. Seasons come and go year after year predictably so that farmers can provide the food we need to survive. Unfortunately, the Garden of Eden that God created was tainted by the introduction of sin into our world. Famine, plague, natural disasters, and drought are evidence of the presence of Satan and his demons. And yet God faithfully maintains order and provides for our needs.

God also provides order in our individual lives. He is growing us and maturing us into the people He wants us to be. He has a plan and a purpose, and He is following that plan. He will not give us a task to accomplish before He develops the qualities in us that we need to be successful. He may place a dream in our hearts that will take years to bring about. We cannot get ahead of Him. His timing is perfect just like His plans are perfect. Many of the men and women in the Bible waited years for God to fulfill the promises He gave them. During that time, He was preparing and maturing them, so they were ready when it happened. Joseph spent a lot of years in a jail cell learning to trust God. David spent years as a fugitive in the wilderness. The children of Israel wandered around in the desert for forty years. Just as God was at work in their lives, He is at work in ours. He is in all the intricate details, and we can trust His plan because He loves us and knows exactly what is best for us.