Isaiah 28:23-29

23  Listen and hear my voice.Pay attention and hear what I say.24 Does the plowman plow every  day to plant seed?Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?

25  When he has leveled its surface,does he not then scatter black cumin and sow  cumin?He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots,with spelt as their border.26 His God teaches him order;He instructs him.27  Certainly black cumin is not  threshedwith a threshing board,and a cart wheel is not rolled over  the cumin.But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,and cumin with a rod.28 Bread grain is crushed,but is not threshed  endlessly.Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart  rumbles,his horses do not crush it.29  This also comes from the  Lord of Hosts.He gives wonderful advice;He gives great wisdom.e
          God starts out this passage giving us a reminder to "listen" and "pay attention." We won't hear His voice if we are not in the word, praying, and spending time in His presence. Then He continues and gives us a parable of a farmer's (the plowman) task and God's treatment of Judah. In this time, God has announced His judgement on His people because they did not follow after Him. After announcing His judgement, He also reminds us that His judgement does not last forever, and that He has a method and plan for it. The plowman plows to break up the soil, like sometimes God allows trials to come into our lives, and it breaks us up. But then when the soil is broken, the farmer scatters seeds (black cumin) into the soil, just as God uses the trials in our lives to open up room to come into our hearts more deeply than He can when we are hardened and dependent on ourselves. Then, in verse 26, God teaches His people order. After bringing in the seed, He fills us with His instruction.              In verse 28, He compares Israel to bread grain being crushed. He says, "bread grain is crushed, but it is not threshed endlessly. Though the wheel of the farmers cart rumbles, his horses do not crush it." You may feel like you are being crushed right now, but take heart in this reassurance that the crushing will not last forever. God is simply preparing you and making you into a new creation. To make a delicious loaf of bread requires crushing the grains to make flour so that it may then be made into something delicious and enjoyable. Just as God is letting you be crushed right now, it's just part of a process teaching you to trust in Him and to follow after Him even when it's hard. He's letting the trials come so that He can make you into something new that you cannot even imagine.                When you feel like you're being crushed under the weights and pressures of this life, you can find your refuge in Christ. Trust in Him during those times where he is transforming you from the grain, chaff and all, that you were, into a perfect and new loaf of bread. The process is long and hard, but it is your choice to trust in His perfect will for your life, and it will be better than any life you could design for yourself. The process of taking something flawed and imperfect, and making it something new can be painful, but always rewarding in the end.