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Starting a new thing is difficult! We often wonder many things. Will I be any good at it? What if I fail and get embarrassed in the process? These are very real possibilities and often many of us stay stuck in preparation mode. We busy ourselves with preparing to do the work: reading articles, watching tutorials, buying supplies and many other things. Preparation is an essential part of starting any task, but if we are not careful we can use it to avoid doing the task at hand. And while we may feel like we are doing so much, the task remains unstarted or partially done.
Recently, I read from Isaiah 28:24-26 that, “24 When a farmer ploughs for planting, does he plough continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? 25 When he has levelled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place,[a] barley in its plot,[b] and spelt in its field? 26 His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.” The example Isaiah shares is so practical. A farmer would be wasting his time, if he did not take advantage of the ploughed field to plant his crops in season. I may not be a farmer, but I learnt two things from his example.
First, if I stay in preparation mode, I will not grow. Preparation is like ploughing. Like my work, a plot has a predetermined size and I know the type of preparation expected of me. When I have done my best preparing the land to receive seed, then I must move onto the next step and sow the seed in the correct season. Then, I can watch my crops grow, assess my process and make the necessary improvements. Even if I struggle, I am better than the farmer who spent too much time preparing his field, and left it too late to plant his seed or did not plant at all. This farmer will miss out on the harvest.
Second, overpreparation is a sign of fear and it steals the joy I could get from my work. When I spend too much time preparing to plant, I may convince myself to wait until a magical and elusive time, when everything is just right. But that time may never come. If I accept that there is no perfect time, then I am open to sowing when I have made reasonable preparations. I can enjoy the learning process and experiment with different conditions and see what works best for me.
Today I am encouraging you to trust God with your project or task. Prepare. Then start with a farmer’s faith – sow in the day and sow in the night. You will grow by doing. So, get up and get started.
