Threshing

“He does not beat the grain forever.” — from Isaiah 28

When the wheat is gathered in, there is one more job to do, and it looks a little rough. You see, each grain of wheat is stuck inside a hard, useless shell, called a husk. To get the good grain out, the farmer has to beat it — bang, bang, bang — with a stick. This is called threshing.

It might look like the farmer is being unkind to the wheat. But he isn’t! He is setting the good grain free from the shell that is stuck around it. He has to do it, or the good grain would stay trapped inside.

Sometimes hard or sad things happen to us, and it can feel a bit like being threshed. But here are two things to remember, and they are both full of comfort.

First: the farmer only bothers to thresh the good grain. He leaves the weeds alone. So when a hard time comes, it does not mean God has forgotten you. It means you are precious to him, like good wheat.

Second: the farmer never, ever beats the grain forever. He always stops! Hard times do not last forever either. God is gentle and careful, and he will never give you more than you can bear. Soon the beating stops, and the good grain is safe.

Dear God, when hard things happen, help me remember that you have not forgotten me, and that it will not last forever. Amen.