Make Hay While the Sun Shines

I have always heard the expression, "Make hay while the sun shines,"  and while I got the gist of it, I never understood it as I do now after making the move from the urban place where I worked to the farm place where I retired.  The sun is important for making hay.  It is not just in the growing, but at the moment of cutting.  The farmer who cuts hay wants at least three days of sunshine and hot weather to dry out the hay and make it ready for baling.  Rain in that drying period is not a good thing as it can cause mildew, or decrease the nutritional value of the hay for the cows during the winter.  So, it is best to make hay while the sun shines.

 

When we allow ourselves to think about the it for a moment, it is easy to realize that "making hay while the sun shines" can be a word which has value for our spiritual lives.  There are those moments when the Holy Spirit prods us, or maybe even pushes us, into some action.  At such times, hesitation can mean wasting an opportunity to be about something God would choose for us to do.  It could be in a moment of realizing that someone standing in some fast food line could use some help in paying the bill.  Or, maybe it is in seeing someone who could use a hand with some grass cutting.  Of course, we normally run into people during the course of the day who are need of someone to pray for them. 

 

We do not have to go out looking for these folks and the opportunities they present.  In fact, if it  us doing the looking, we are likely to miss most of them.   All we really need to do is to start the day with a prayer asking God to make use of us during the day for His purposes and then wait.  The Holy Spirit can be trusted to let us know that one of those "making hay while the sun shines" is upon us.  When He prods us, it is not a moment for hesitation, but for action.