Defend Your Pea Patch

What an incredible honor it would have been to make it into the Good Book.  What an even greater honor to have the word "Mighty" tagged to your name.  2 Samuel 23 describes to us the story of some mighty men.  I'm especially drawn to Eleazar and Shammah.  At a place where there was a field of barley Eleazar "stood his ground" and "struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword."  Shammah was standing in the middle of a field of lentils (peas) when the Philistines attacked.  He "took his stand in the middle of the field" and struck down the Philistines that day.   Two men, both making 2 verses in Scripture and both described as mighty. 

You would think of all the people to have their stories told in the Bible, others might have seemed more qualified than a couple of fellows that defended a barley field and a pea patch.  What made them so mighty?  It wasn't like they were defending a great kingdom or even a valuable piece of land.  It was a pea patch for cryin' out loud!  But this barley field and pea patch represented so much more to these men.  These fields represented food for their families.  It represented the hard work and labor of those who took the time to plant the crop, nurture the crop and bring in the harvest.  They recognized that these fields were worth fighting for.  It might not have looked like much, but it was theirs.  

The amazing reality to this story is that you and I are defending our pea patches too, thousands of years later.  If you are like us, sometimes your pea patch feels insignificant.  We are living in the pregnant stages of planting our church and working to nurture this baby church towards a healthy birth.  God has given us a very clear vision and we are moving forward with His direction.  But even at this stage of the process we find ourselves holding strongly to our vision and standing our ground in the direction we feel God is leading us.   


For us the questions that arise are mostly in regards to why we have chosen to hold off on our launch date until we have certain pieces in place.  We have learned not to be defeated when we must defend our pea patch.  We now understand more than ever the importance of knowing that you are called of God to plant a church and staying disciplined in your prayer time with God.  This is warfare, and we listen to one general and one general only.  Because the reality is, at the end of the day, we are the only ones that must answer for the direction of our church.  Our pea patch might not look like much right now, but it's ours and God has given it to us to defend and nurture.

If you are planting a church, God has given you an incredible task.  You might not feel like you are making enough headway or moving as quickly as you had hoped, but be encouraged with the reality that God has given you this baby church to nurture and grow.  Be rock solid in the direction you feel God is leading you in and then stand firm.  And if you aren't sure where God is leading you, take time off to spend a day or two of uninterrupted time listening for God's voice.  

We all know what is at stake.  We must stand up, stand strong and fight for these baby churches that we have the incredible privilege of leading.  It is my prayer that our "pea patches" will grow to produce a mighty harvest of lives that will experience the transforming power of Christ; and that our cities will never be the same because there were some pastors that were just crazy enough to believe that God could take something out of nothing and turn it into an incredible display of His power and grace.

Be encouraged today!