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TheDiscipleMD

A number of years ago a member told the story of how he had been raised on a farm in southern Utah. Being raised a member of the Mormon faith, his father diligently tried to adhere to the law of the Sabbath. This now grown man related how on one occasion the weather forecast called for heavy rain on a Monday. Since they were in process of harvesting hay, a heavy rain would not be a welcome event. Much of the hay was still on the ground, unbundled. A heavy rain would ruin the crop. He then told how his father had them work till midnight on Saturday night. In observance of the Sabbath, they stopped but started up again at midnight the next night. All their neighbors worked through the Sabbath. Some of course were also members of our faith. But, we all know the story of the “ox in the mire” and this event certainly could fall into that category. The heavy rains came early Monday morning.

Now, what was interesting to me about the rest of this man’s story was that it wasn’t the traditional “faith” story. That kind of story, and there are many, finishes with some sort of spectacular intervention that brings some great blessing into the life of the faithful follower. Somehow this man’s faith and obedience to the law of the Sabbath enabled him to get a better price on what hay he was able to save. Or the neighbors pitched in at the last moment to get the work done. Or perhaps it ended up raining all around except on this faithful man’s crop. Sometimes these blessing do come to faithful followers. But, here’s an important question. What if we show our faith and the miracle doesn’t come to save our “crop,” what then? How strong will our resolve be to continue to be obedient?

For this man’s father, the miracle came much later. The rain did come that Monday morning and it ruined most of his crop. No miracle came that day for him! His neighbors saved their crops and were able to go to the market and sell their goods. But….here was his son, all these years later, telling the story with great emotion. I’ve known this man for many years. He is a faithful man. He has tried to raise a faithful family unto the Lord. He is devoted to the restored gospel. He is solid in his commitment to the building up of the kingdom. He finished his story by telling how he never forgot the faithfulness of his father’s actions that day. That even though the rains destroyed most of his crop, he had been taught by the great example of his father, of the importance of the Sabbath. The miracle, of course, was wrought in the life of his son, who all these years later, carried the faith of his father in his heart.

The Lord does perform miracles on a daily basis in the life of ordinary people. Yet, too often we remember the “extraordinary” events, write them in our journals, and recite them to our posterity. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. However, many of life’s miracles are not so “extraordinary.” They arrive as things “unseen.” They are the miracle of seeds planted that take weeks, months, sometimes years to sprout. Being obedient will always bring forth blessings. Some seem “miraculous,” others “ordinary.” But I have come to find out, through this man’s story, and many others like it, that the “ordinary” blessings are the most penetrating to the soul, and the longest lasting.