Soil, Seasons & Surrender: What Farming Teaches About Faith
- Debra Flaming
- Aug 3
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 24
There’s something about working the land that invites you to see God more clearly.
Maybe it’s the slow pace. The way things don’t always go as planned. The patience required to wait for fruit you won’t see right away. Farming has a way of tilling not just the soil—but your soul.
At Flaming Acres, we’ve learned that the life of a farmer and the life of faith aren’t so different. Both require trust. Both require waiting. And both are built on the truth that we’re not in control of the outcome—we’re just called to be faithful in the process.
Soil: The Hidden Work
Healthy soil is the beginning of everything.
We Tend it. Enrich it. We break up the hard places and dig out the soil where the tubers will rest. And yet, for all the effort we pour into the ground, we have no power to make anything grow.
The soil reminds us: we prepare the place, but God brings the life.
“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”—Matthew 13:8
Our role is obedience. To prepare with care. To do the unseen, unglamorous work beneath the surface—and trust that what’s planted in faith will one day rise.
Seasons: The Slow Grace of Timing
Farming has a rhythm—just like our lives. There’s a time to sow and a time to reap. A time to wait, and a time to watch things bloom. You can’t force spring to arrive, and you can’t rush the harvest.
It’s taught us to stop measuring success by immediacy and start embracing the beauty of God’s timing.
There are seasons where everything feels dormant. But dormancy isn’t death—it’s preparation. Just like our tubers resting in cold storage, there are times when God holds us in stillness so something deeper can take root.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…”—Ecclesiastes 3:1
Farming teaches us to trust in what we cannot see yet. And isn’t that exactly what faith is?
Surrender: The Freedom of Letting Go
Every year, no matter how much we prepare, we face things we can’t control—weather, pests, unpredictable outcomes. We do everything “right,” and still, the results are out of our hands.
That’s the uncomfortable part. But also the holy part.
Because surrender isn’t giving up—it’s handing over. It’s saying, “Lord, I’ve done what I can. The rest is Yours.”
“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”—1 Corinthians 3:7
Farming reminds us that growth—true, lasting, soul-deep growth—is never our doing alone.
From Soil to Soul
At Flaming Acres, we grow dahlias. But more than that—we’re growing in faith. With each season, each bloom, and each quiet surrender, we’re reminded that beauty doesn’t come from striving. It comes from abiding.
So if you find yourself in a season of preparation, waiting, or letting go—take heart. The same God who brings flowers from the dirt is working in you, too.
And friend, He knows exactly when it's time to bloom.
Let's Grow in Faith Together...
Debra Flaming
