It has been a very full day, Father. Thank You for Your presence in the middle of it all. May this time be profitable for my soul. Amen.

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One thing that is not exceptionally interesting to look at is a growing field of soybeans. It doesn’t have the height and majesty of corn. It doesn’t have the undulating beauty of wheat. Fields of soybeans are just green and bushy. Then they die and all their leaves fall to the ground, leaving the seed pods for harvest.

I guess they are beautiful as other living things of the field are. But where soybeans make the biggest impact is not in their looks but what they can be used for after they are harvested. I found a lot of interesting information on North Carolina’s Soybean Producers Association’s website. The high-protein fiber that remains after soybean oil is removed is toasted and prepared into animal feed for poultry, pork, cattle, fish, and pets. From the oil that is extracted from the seeds, we get biodiesel, soy crayons, biocomposites (building materials made from recycled newspaper and soybeans), carpets, candles, cleaners, soy ink, soy tires, soy foams, and concrete protector. Everything is safer for consumers and better for the environment.

Most of us would not consider ourselves things of beauty, though it has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholders. And there’s a good chance that many of us don’t feel we are all that useful – maybe for a few things, but it would be limited. But I can guarantee that God doesn’t see us that way!

God made us and knows, down to the very molecules of our bodies, that which we are capable of! He sees things in us that we would never dream of seeing in ourselves. When King David was a shepherd boy out in the fields protecting his father’s flocks do you think he ever saw himself as the greatest king Israel ever had? I doubt it. Do you think that Peter as a young man out in his boat hauling in nets full of fish ever dreamed that would walk beside the promised Messiah of the Jews, and that he would one day be a leader in a following that would turn the world on its ear? Uh…no.

These two were nothing out of the ordinary…until God got a hold of them and under His guidance and direction pointed them in the right direction. Only then did they become what God knew they could become.

I would challenge you today, to not sell yourself short. Ask God to use you in any way He can. But the thing is, we must be open and receptive to what those things may be. We cannot doubt His directives. We cannot crawl into the corner thinking, “Well, I could never do that!” We don’t know but God does. Let Him decide. Let Him lead you. Oh, the places you can go, in the hands of our almighty, all-knowing God! And truth be told, I guarantee you can beat soybeans hands down in accomplishing great and glorious things!

For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
….He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
….from those who do what is right. Psalm 84:11 NLT

Sept 11th, 2022, Sun, 8:15 pm