Lynn Jones: A tough row to hoe

By Lynn Jones

When I was growing up on our farm in Plainview, Louisiana, my two brothers and I sometimes had to help Mom hoe her garden. We grumbled considerably about having to do so.

Anyone who has ever hoed grass out of a row of plants in a garden or field knows that not all rows are created equal. Some rows have very little grass on them, or, if they do have grass, it is something like small crab grass or little weeds that don’t have much root. You didn’t mind hoeing such a row. Some rows were different, however. There were some rows that had a lot of Bermuda grass on them. Hoeing Bermuda grass is like hoeing haywire. It is tough, has deep roots, and will not surrender to the hacking of a hoe. After you had tried to hoe a row with a lot of Bermuda grass on it, you quickly learned to try to avoid doing so again.

This led to a lot of jockeying for position with my brothers when picking a row. None of us wanted a tough row, and our mother would often have to settle the squabbling by assigning the rows.

We boys could have learned something from Abraham in the Bible. In Genesis 13, there is the account of Abraham and his nephew Lot leaving Egypt with large flocks of animals and making their way toward the land of Israel. Since the herds were large and grass was limited, their herdsmen often got into disputes over the best grazing land. As they came into southern Israel, Abraham told Lot that there should be no quarreling between them nor their herdsmen, so they should go to different parts of the land. Even though Abraham was the older of the two, he said, “You choose the part of the land that you want, and I will take the other part.” Lot chose the fertile, well-watered land in the Jordan River valley and Abraham was left with the drier and poorer land to the west of the Jordan. 

Back to those days when my brothers and I were squabbling over which row to hoe, we never wanted to give the others the right to choose. Abraham willingly took the tough row to hoe in Israel, and the Lord blessed him and sustained him as he did so. In the long run, Lot suffered from his choice and Abraham was blessed in his choice.

You may have a” tough row to hoe” in your life. Don’t become embittered.  Be willing to do more than you are obligated to do. As someone has said, “Go the second mile; it’s never crowded.” When the row is long and the hoeing is hard, rely upon the Lord for His help. He can bless and sustain you even when you have “a tough row to hoe.”

Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com .