Good news for the countryside: Farming and waiting go hand in hand

​At the end of last month, my fellow columnist, Charlotte Stevenson wrote, “Spring on the farm is a season of renewal and planning as this is a labour-intensive period with its own set of challenges.” She certainly isn’t wrong, it is also a busy time, but it can also be a time of waiting and those who wait – need to be patient.

Early varieties of potato have already gone in, waiting for the autumn harvest, and the dry March that we have just had has been a great boon for arable farmers – unlike more recent times when they had to wait and pray for the weather to improve.

Thankfully, with the spring wheat going in, I have seen tractors throwing up clouds of dust as they harrow the land in readiness – and then the wait is on for the August/September harvest. There’s waiting too for that first cut of lush silage and for the lambs to grow sufficiently for market.

Having done what needs to be done, that doesn’t mean that farms are quiet havens of tranquillity and peace, until the wheat can be harvested, or the grass cut. Farmers don’t just sit and wait for things to happen as there is still a myriad of tasks to be done. Yet, we need to wait, and waiting with patience is part of it.

It is said that ‘patience is a virtue’ and there are things in life, and on the farm, that just need to take their course. Things that just can’t be hurried, natural processes that will take as long as they need to take. That said, not everyone has that virtue, but I am however, so, so thankful, as David reminds us in Psalm 103:8, that, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” – He is ever patient with us.

The Apostle Peter reminds us further that “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9.)

Having waited for the right moment, when God became fully human in the person of Jesus that first Christmas, He finished what He had set out to do that first Easter on a cross, dying for you and me. When Jesus died, He did so in our place, taking on all our sin and all our wrongdoing that would separate us from God. He made a way to God, having said that no one would come to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).

Through the sacrifice of Good Friday, and Jesus’ hope-fuelled glorious resurrection that Christians around the world will celebrate tomorrow, He enables us to enter into a new relationship with our Creator God – The one true God who does not want anyone to perish, but for each of us to come to repent of our sin, and so restore our relationship with Him - and with it, the wonderful promise of eternal life.

As we wait for Easter Sunday, Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20). Listen for His voice, wait no more and welcome Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Saviour. For He is waiting.

Before coming to live in Belfast just over 40 years ago now, Mark grew up in a village in rural Sussex, coming to Northern Ireland in his late teens. He is a member of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church in east Belfast and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s press & media officer.

If you would like to talk to someone about any of the issues raised in this article, please email Rev Kenny Hanna, PCI’s Rural Chaplain at [email protected] or call him on 07938 488 372.