This morning I climbed onto the backhoe to turn one of the manure piles here at Dogwood Farms. As the bucket rolled the pile over, clouds of steam rose into the cool morning air. It wasn't smoke. It wasn't waste. It was life at work.
Standing there, I couldn't help but think about how God designed creation.
What most people see as something to get rid of, God sees as the beginning of something new.
Fresh manure isn't fertile soil. In fact, if you spread it immediately, it can do more harm than good. It first has to go through a transformation. Deep inside that pile, billions of microorganisms begin doing the work God designed them to do. Temperatures climb well over 130 degrees. Harmful organisms are destroyed. Nutrients are broken down into forms plants can use.
But here's something else that's required.
The pile has to be turned.
Again.
And again.
Each time it's turned, the process is disrupted. What had settled comfortably is thrown into upheaval. Fresh oxygen is introduced. New material is mixed in. The heat builds again, and over time, what began as manure becomes rich, living soil capable of producing healthy food.
As I watched the steam rise this morning, I couldn't escape the parallel.
Isn't that often how God works in our lives?
We would prefer a comfortable, undisturbed life. We want everything neatly stacked, predictable, and peaceful. But growth rarely happens there.
Instead, God allows seasons of heat.
He allows challenges that turn our lives upside down.
He mixes us with experiences we never would have chosen.
And while we're wondering why life feels so difficult, He's doing something far deeper than we can see.
He's transforming us.
The trials aren't punishment. They're part of the process.
Just as compost cannot become fertile soil without heat and turning, our character often isn't refined without difficulty and change.
James writes:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." (James 1:2-4)
As I drove away from that steaming compost pile this morning, I realized I wasn't just looking at manure becoming soil—I was looking at a picture of God's grace. He takes what the world sees as waste and transforms it into something that gives life. He does the same with us. Through the heat of trials and the turning of life's unexpected challenges, He is making us more like Christ. So don't resent the heat. Don't fear the turning. The One who began a good work in you is faithful to finish it, and one day you'll look back and see that every difficult season was part of His perfect plan to cultivate a harvest for His glory.