Agriculture Today - June 2009
Guest Editorial

Faith and Farming: Where I Find Strength
by Paul H. Betancourt
FCFB Past President

These days when people ask me how I am doing I often respond, “My son is in a combat zone, I have no water to farm and the economy is in the tank. But, me personally? I am fine.”

It is a brutal year on the farm. This time last year, fuel and fertilizer prices spiked. I thought surviving 2008 was going to be the challenge. I didn’t see this coming. There are no good choices. Almond prices are down. Cotton acreage has collapsed. The tree fruit guys have taken a beating. The dairy guys are losing big money every day.

I am not sure the world has any encouragement to offer. The State of California is essentially bankrupt. The gridlocked special interests have neither the will nor the ability to fix anything, much less do the visionary and strategic work necessary to prepare for our future. The Federal government is following California’s example of ignoring the economic realities of income and expense. A three year drought is being aggravated by foolish water policy. I don’t see any help coming from the government. In fact, I would be thrilled if they just didn’t make things worse.

So, what gives me enough hope to get out of bed in the morning? We are in good hands. I know it looks bad now, but we live in the Land of the Free, because of the Brave. I would rather live here now, with my problems than any other place at any other time in history. But, as much as I love my country and as much as I appreciate the blessings we have here, my confidence and hope are in my faith, not my citizenship.

To my friends and neighbors who have been up all night tossing and turning…

To my friends and neighbors who have that heavy feeling when they see all the bills piling up on their desk…

To my friends and neighbors who feel gut shot when a piece of equipment fails or the bugs move in…

                                        there is hope.

After 30 years, I am finally beginning to understand the Book of Job. Job was a farmer who lost it all. In the first chapter of Job, he learns that all his livestock, all his servants and all his children are dead. Unless we are aware of Old Testament practices we might miss the meaning of Job’s reaction. He tore his robe and shaved his head (Job 1:20). In Job’s culture tearing his robe and shaving his head were signs of extreme grief. Job was heart broken. That is a perfectly natural reaction to what had happened, and it is OK. It is OK for us to grieve loss like that. This ‘stiff-upper lip, real men don’t cry’ business is nonsense. Loss hurts. But, notice what Job did next, he worshipped. Job “fell to the ground and worshipped.” And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

Wow, it takes a lot to say that in the face of complete loss. But, Job had his life in perspective. He wasn’t a Stoic who had dulled his emotions. Remember, a few moments earlier he had fully expressed his grief. But, in the face of grief he could still say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” How could he do that?

Edith Schaeffer, in her book Affliction, has a chapter on Job. Schaeffer writes, that the temptation presented by Job’s ‘comforters’ was not to ‘curse God and die’. The real challenge to Job was, “actually loving and trusting God when there is pressure being brought upon us not to trust Him.” (p.63).

These are times when it can be difficult to trust God. As farmers our lives are more exposed to risk, more exposed to the natural elements than most people. The markets are out of our control; the weather is out of our control. It takes faith in something to have the confidence that we will be all right. How did Job continue to “love and trust God” in the face of his losses?

The answer is buried deep in Chapter 19. Job responds, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, at the last He will take His stand upon the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet with my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25-6). Wow. Can I say that when I hurt? That has not been my usual first response. But, I am learning the strength that can be had when that is my perspective.       

There are three things I am learning from Job-

• It is OK to feel and express our grief. Loss hurts and God is big enough to take it when we cry out.
• Worship is a good response when we hurt. Job tore his robes and shaved his head in grief. His heart was broken. But, he could still worship.
• Faith is an anchor, a foundation for our lives. “I know my Redeemer lives.”

In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tries to encourage us, “Do not worry about your life, as to what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor for your body as to what shall you wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ...who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

“Your Heavenly Father knows you need all of these things. But, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:25-33). I don’t live to farm, I farm to live. I live to seek His Kingdom.

What Jesus is saying in the Sermon on the Mount echoes what King David said in Psalm 37. “The steps of a man are established by the Lord. And He delights in his way. When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; because the Lord is the one who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old; Yet, I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread” (Psalm 37:23-26).

I love my family, I love my country and I love my community. I am proud of what I do as a farmer growing food and fiber and caring for the environment. But, those are not what I live for-those are not where I draw my strength. Things are rough on the farm right now. I can’t change the weather and the global conditions that are affecting my farm. Faith is not a band aid to make things better. Faith is a way of life that gives me perspective on times like these.

Scripture source:
New American Standard Bible