“We’ll see,” said the Farmer.
There’s an old Chinese story about a farmer.
As the story goes, the farmer and his son had a beautiful horse that ran away. They searched for days but couldn’t find the animal.
“That’s terrible luck,” the neighbors said.
“We’ll see,” said the farmer.
Lo and behold, the horse returned—and with two wild horses in tow!
“That’s great luck,” the neighbors said.
“We’ll see,” said the farmer.
The farmer’s son worked hard to tame the wild horses, but one day the son was bucked off and broke his leg.
“Such bad luck,” the neighbors said.
“We’ll see,” said the farmer.
Later that week, military recruiters came along to enlist any able-bodied young men to fight in the army. All sons were required to join, but the farmer’s son was passed over because of his broken leg.
“How lucky,” the neighbors said.
“We’ll see,” said the farmer.
What did the farmer understand that his neighbors didn’t?
Patience is a common trait among farmers, and with that comes a refusal to hastily judge or label a situation.
That simple “We’ll see.” statement is something we say to ourselves a lot. As unjust taxes are levied against our partners, or when investment partners become insolvent or refuse to pay down their loan, it would be easy to cram that situation into a simple, easy-to-understand box. Snap judgements often feel good, but they can also backfire and make fools of us.
The farmer in this old Chinese story understands that nothing is simply one thing. Nothing is simply ‘bad luck’ or ‘good luck’. As followers of Jesus, we understand and trust that God is working toward Kingdom renewal (which we get to join in). God wastes nothing and is in the habit of surprising us people when they least expect it.
In Matthew 7, toward the end of The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges us to withhold judgement, warning that it has a way of biting back. He says simply, “Do not judge, lest you be judged.”
There’s a double-edged-ness to judgement, but we trust in God and His Kingdom (and our own ability to participate in that, serving the King) and withhold judgement,
The work AgGrandize is often changing. Many of you have helped us weather some tough days and helped us through it. We’ve said goodbye to partners and welcomed new ones. We’ve sometimes felt very confused and discouraged in the work, and those are the times you’re most tempted to judge a situation too quickly.
May God give us—this AgG community—wisdom and patience, as we take this work you make possible one day at a time and trust that Christ will guide us, is in control, and can be trusted, if only we’ll open our eyes, withhold judgement, and patiently say to neighbors, “We’ll see.”