Faithfulness in the Heartland

It’s getting hot here in America’s Heartland. The countryside is a deep green, and so are most of the farm fields I’ve seen; most of the corn is over a foot tall now, a little more farther south, a little less farther north. That’s pretty much the way it is supposed to be in the beginning of June.

To look around, all seems well, but beneath the surface there is a sense of unease across the land; something isn’t quite right. People are getting edgy, common sense seems less common than usual, lies are in the air, discord is sweeping the lush countryside almost like an early summer storm. Hatred is abroad in the land.

Yet if we just look at the land itself, we don’t see any of this. What we see instead is the faithfulness of God in the seasons, for this land, our Heartland, that appeared dead and desolate only a few weeks ago, is now lush and full of new life: People are behaving badly, but God is behaving faithfully.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we know that this is pretty much the normal state of things in this world we live in; we recall that God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. God always does His part.

Yet from time-to-time Men let themselves get carried away with frenzy and passions. All the while, God in His Creation is crying out to us: “Hey! Look to Me!”

When we look away from the silliness of Men and to the faithfulness of God, the man-made storms and controversies around us begin to fade away, like a passing storm and a sense of serenity returns, and with serenity comes calm and perspective about the ways of humans. I have to say that I am sure glad that God keeps crying out to us; I’m sure glad He is persistent− I almost forgot who is the One who is faithful, who is the One I can believe.

Serenity returns to the Heartland.