Stay and Sow

“Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.” Genesis 26:3 

There is a true and remarkable story about a man who discovered the value of staying and sowing where God had placed him. The Civil War had taken a heavy toll on Louisiana. A few years before the war, a soldier returned from Mexico and gave some dried peppers to a man named Edmund Mcllhenny. At the time, no one in southern Louisiana had ever tasted anything like these hot peppers. Curious, Mcllhenny planted some of the seeds in his garden and grew to love their flavor.

Then the war came. All the families on Avery Island were forced to flee, and Mcllhenny’s farm was burned to the ground. After the war, most of the residents relocated permanently to New Orleans or other big cities. But Edmund McIlhenny refused to leave. His crops were destroyed, his house looted, and everything seemed lost. Yet, among the ruins, the hot peppers had survived and were thriving like weeds. He found an old barrel of vinegar he had stored years earlier, untouched by thieves. With that vinegar and the peppers, he crafted a special recipe for hot sauce that had an extraordinary flavor. At the local dump, he found 350 discarded perfume bottles, cleaned them out, and filled them with his new sauce. Traveling from city to city, he began selling it. The sauce quickly caught on. Word spread, and soon grocery stores and restaurants were asking for it. His creation, Tabasco sauce, became a national sensation.

All of this happened in a place others had written off as worthless. It happened because one determined man chose to stay and sow into the land he had. Today, the Tabasco label appears in 22 languages, across 175 countries, and the company is now in its fifth generation. The Mcllhenny family still owns it to this day. 

Pray today for a “stay and sow” spirit that does not give up in the face of famine or discouragement.

There is an exponential return on seeds sown in famine soil. Never underestimate what God can grow from scorched ground. What looks like the end may be the beginning of something far greater, if you choose to stay, sow, and trust Him with the harvest.

Share