“When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.” (Matt. 13:26)
IT HAS BEEN SAID that a weed is a plant that is in the wrong place, and that certainly describes the situation in Jesus’ story. In fact, the weed here was probably called darnel, quite common in Palestine at the time. As it began growing, darnel was at first indistinguishable from wheat. Later, of course, the difference became evident because ripe wheat is brown and darnel is black. To the farmer, the darnel was an unexpected insertion, and that’s something we sometimes experience on our spiritual journey when we encounter a sudden change of plans or an unanticipated event.
Abraham experienced this when God suddenly directed him to sacrifice his son Isaac, the boy who was the center of the Lord’s many promises to Abraham and also vital to all of Abraham’s dreams. So much depended on Isaac, yet God wanted the baffled father to sacrifice him? An unexpected insertion to be sure! Yet as we read in Genesis 22, Abraham obeyed. Though he might have been confused, God was not. For behind the unanticipated order was God’s perfect plan and provision.
We occasionally experience unexpected insertions and, like Abraham, we are often both baffled and muddled. Yet to God such events are never unforeseen because He knows what He is doing, and behind it all is His perfect planning and provision.
Recall a time when God worked an unexpected insertion to your benefit, and thank Him for it.
Anne Adams lives in Athens, Texas, where she writes a weekly historical column for the Athens Review newspaper.
© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
