"PUMP LIKE CRAZY"

"PUMP LIKE CRAZY"

Psalm 126:5-6 “Those who put in seed with weeping will get in the grain with cries of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.”

In 1932 a man was walking across the desert, stumbling, almost dying of thirst, when he saw a well. As he approached the well, he found a note in a can close by. The note read: “Dear friend, there is enough water in this well, enough for all, but sometimes the leather washer gets dried up and you have to prime the pump. Now if you look under the rock just west of the well, you will find a bottle of water, corked. Please don’t drink the water. What you’ve got to do is take the bottle of water and pour the first half very slowly into the well to loosen up the leather washer. Then pour the rest in very fast and pump like crazy! You will get water. The well has never run dry. Have faith. And when you’re done, don’t forget to put the note back, fill up the bottle and put it back under the rock. Good luck, have a fun trip. Sincerely; your friend, Desert Pete.”

What would you do? Your on the verge of expiring from lack of water, and in reality, the bottle of water is only enough to quench your thirst, not save your life. Would you have the courage to risk it all?

This story is a powerful allegory about some of the essential ingredients in the Christian faith. First there is evidence----there is a written message, the can with the letter in it and the bottle underneath the rock. Everything is in order, but there is no proof that you can trust desert Pete. The second element is risk. Here is a man dying of thirst asked to pour the only water he is sure of down the well. Faith is always costly. The third element is work. Some people have mistakenly interpreted faith as a substitute for work. Faith is not laziness. Desert Pete reminds us that after we trust and risk, we must pump like crazy.

In Burkina Faso, West Africa you will find the literal fulfillment of Psalm 126:5-6. You see, the people of this poor country can only sew when the rainy season comes. After they reap the harvest of the current season they take one small bag of seed and hide it in the family hut. As the year progresses the supply of food slowly dwindles. The children become hungry and their bellies begin to swell. The mothers and fathers cut back on the amount of food every family member is allowed to eat and all begin to slowly starve.

It is then, that one of the children, while curiously playing in the hut discovers the little sack of hidden grain and comes running to his father and with excitement holds out the sack before his father and says, “Oh Papa, here is grain, we can have a great feast.” The father, through tears looks down at his own starving child and begins to tell him that this grain is reserved for next years Harvest. He explains that if the weather cooperates and the soil is good they will plant this seed and have food for next year.

When the planting season is right the father takes his little child upon his back, walks through the field and plants the seed. As he places the seed along the ground, pushes it down with his thumb then covers it with dry dirt, tears begin to flow from his eyes. He knows that what he is planting by faith could feed his child now, but if it grows it will feed the entire family for another year.

We all sow in tears…we all wonder if there will be any fruit…we all wait for the day of rejoicing. Keep pumping like crazy and planting seed, Reaping season is right around the corner!