Daily Worship

A Farming Family

Peter Neilson June 25, 2016 0 0

Job 1:1-5

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job  - blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters,  and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.  His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.  When a period of feasting had run its course,   Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

The weekend brings the highest attendance of the public at the Royal Highland show.   Families come in their droves to learn about breeding some animals and training others, and taste all kinds of home-grown food.   Birds of prey, horses & riders, gundogs and sheepdogs entertain the crowds. At the Churches in Rural Scotland stand we share with them God’s presence and his care.

 

It’s a good life, Lord, when it’s all going well:
When the weather is fine and the crops are growing
When the livestock are well and the machines are working.
Thank You for the good days.

It’s a good life, Lord, when the family stays close
And we work together.
I had forgotten that Job had good days
Of family meals and farming success.
Thank You for those family days.

It’s a hard life, Lord, when the land will not yield
And the banks will not lend, and debts mount up.
These are hard days, Lord.

It’s hard on the family, Lord, when the days are long
And the money is short.
So many of our children have left the land for better jobs
And marriages have broken under the strain.
I sometimes feel like Job when his world collapsed
And his God seemed far away.

It’s a special life, Lord, when the earth and the sky
Wrap around me and the sharp air wakens me to a silent prayer.
These are special moments, Lord.

It’s been generations, Lord, that my family have walked this land
And baled the hay:
Long rhythms of work and rest; tending Your Creation
As stewards of this patch of earth.
I want to learn from Job, whose pain-shrunk life expanded
Before the marvels of your creation.
And found God again,
Found his family again,
Found contentment again.
Make this a special day ……with a long view, Lord. AMEN