To be a rice farmer you understand the Principle of Being Proactive. Years ago, Stephen Covey used this phrase to describe getting in front of a situation rather than reacting to the situation. Such it is with controlling the water in a rice field. A farmer controls the water in the rice field so the rice will receive an equal amount of water. This also allowed my dad to determine how long he would keep the rice field flooded. These two factors are critical to a farmer’s harvest…and make no mistake, it is always about the harvest.

Many people have asked me, “why do the levees meander through the field?” In the spring, after we planted, we would survey the field for highs & lows. It required someone with a survivor’s instrument, a person who walked the field with the survivor’s stick to find the perfect level, and someone on a tractor with a levee disc to “pull” the levee. We would then cut gaps in each levee & place plastic over the gap (see orange plastic) so the water would not erode to levee. In late May & June, a rice field looks like a beautiful, scrolled pattern carpet, but the farmer recognizes the unseen danger if the water is not controlled. “An acre foot is approximately 326,000 gallons, which is enough water to cover an acre of land about 1-foot deep.” (Google) This means if the top levee breaks it will pour 326K gallons of water into the lower levee which will blow that levee out. By the time all the water reaches the bottom of the field, there will be little left of that rice field. I remember the spring afternoon my dad raced to the field in a heavy thunderstorm with his shovel. I watched him in the pouring rain, with lighting flashing, go around the outside levees cutting gaps to drain the water out of the field. This was true damage control.

Beautiful water is essential to all living things because God designed it that way. But the Lesson from the Farm is, like water…the choices of our heart/mind can Bless or destroy us. Listen to these foundational Principles from God’s Instruction Manual.

• Proverbs 25:28 “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.”
• 1 Peter 1:6-7 “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
• Psalm 32:9 “Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

Have you had enough repairing the busted levees in your life? Have you had enough “washouts” in your field? Isn’t it time you went to The Master Farmer, Jesus, and say, “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”?

Don’t put it off. There are storms ahead. Only Jesus has the proven record in the storms of life. “He (Jesus) got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” Mark 4:39