All The Blessings Possible

“Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.” (Isa 32:20 AV)

 

Isaiah chapter thirty-two starts with a prophecy of the prosperity under Hezekiah.  Then beginning in verse nine, the nation comes under judgment.  Verse fifteen may be in reference to the Spirit being poured out on the Gentile nations.  The result of this outpouring is then described in verses sixteen through twenty.  Some writers assume verses sixteen through twenty are referring to the church age.  In doing so, they tend to spiritualize the passage.  What the Spirit impressed upon my heart was two little words.  ‘all waters’.  The passage is speaking of the custom of sowing flooded fields and river banks during the wet season.  Then the waters would recede.  The ox and ass are needed for harvesting the crops that would grow as a result of the sowing.  The blessing comes is sowing and reaping.  It is implied when the Messiah comes and blesses, then there will be boundless opportunity and strength to produce all the fruit which the land can provide.  In doing so, people will be blessed.  Again, we want to consider all water as opposed to some or most.

Have you ever had to throw our food because what was left went bad?  Or, looking at it a different way, have you ever had the pleasure of extracting as much as one could out of an offering without leaving anything to waste?  My wife and I had a unique ministry.  We called it ‘last life car drivers’.  We would get these cars that others would destine for the scrap heap.  I know I have relayed stories of the past.  They included a station wagon that had a cooling problem.  A Ford Taurus had a transmission problem and lost the driver’s side door because of it.  Then there was the sedan that split in two.  It was interesting, to say the least.  We had a Ford Escort wagon that couldn’t make it up a hill of any kind.  There was the conversion van a friend allowed us to drive that handled like a house.  There was the two-door thunderbird with a family of five.  The experiences go on and on.  Most of these experiences were hoisted upon us because of life’s circumstances.  There is a certain satisfaction in knowing you have done all that you could do and got the maximum life out of an experience.  This is the meaning of our passage.  When the LORD reigns and we are living in His perfect will, there will be maximum blessings experienced.  Every water will be seeded.  All the fruit that is possible will be reaped.  Life will be as fulfilling as it possibly can be.

The older I get, the more and more I find myself contemplating how much missed opportunity I allowed to slip by or regret that I haven’t done more than I could have.  There is a song written by Grace Reese Adkins entitled, I’ll Wish I Had Given Him More.  The first verse goes like this:  “By and by when I look on His face, Beautiful face, thorn shadowed face; By and by when I look on His face, I'll wish I had given Him more. More, so much more, More of my life than I e'er gave before By and by when I look on His face, I'll wish I had given Him more.” The song speaks of regret.  Regret over missed opportunities.  Our passage above, siting a positive motive, chooses to look at the blessings enjoyed rather than regret that is felt.  And that is what we want to remember today.  As long as we are in the perfect will of God, then we will sow on all the waters He has destined for us and reap the fruit thereby.  What an encouragement to stay faithful!