Akbar Ali needed rain. Even one or two days of heavy rain might be enough.
But again there were no clouds in the blue sky today. Just the hot sun beating down on him standing on the edge of his field. He looked at his tomato crop. The plants were full grown but weak, limp and lying bedraggled on the ground. Almost dead. And so were the plants in his neighbour’s field. And in the field beyond that.
All the farmers in the small valley had planted tomatoes that season, and all of them were staring at the same desperate future: a crop failure. Ruin.
Akbar Ali shook his head and stepped onto the little path that threaded through the fields to the village. He needed rain.
Actually, there was some water. The farmers had together built an irrigation ditch that wound across the valley floor and brought water to each field. It was running next to the path Akbar Ali was walking along. And he looked at it, cold and grey and gurgling and splashing. The trouble was, the ditch was very small. There wasn’t a lot of water. Everyone shared the water for a few hours at a time and Akbar Ali had used up his share of the water for that season. He needed rain. Soon the call would go up to afternoon prayer. Akbar Ali would go to the mosque and beg God for rain!
He stopped. He was passing the field of his enemy, and Akbar Ali knew that tonight it was this man’s time to take his share of the water. From after darkness fell, until just before the first light of day, he could open the ditch and guide his water back and forth along the rows of his tomatoes. It might not be enough, but at least it would give his enemy a chance. Akbar Ali spat into the irrigation ditch. He would pray that God would curse the water his enemy used tonight. That it would have virtually no effect on the crop!
He moved on, around a bend in the path and up ahead was a big tree. In the shade was the tent of a holy man, a pir, and three or four men from the village were squatting at the tent doorway. Then Akbar suddenly stopped and dropped out of sight. One of the men was his enemy and he was going inside the tent. To talk to the pir. Crouching and keeping well out of sight, Akbar quickly made his way around and to the back of the tent. Very carefully he put his ear to the tent and listened to what the two men were saying.
“Pir Sahib,” his enemy said, “tonight after darkness it will be my turn to take a share of the water. Bless me. Do some magic and make the water more powerful than normal. Turn it into miracle water so it become sufficient to save my crop.”
The pir smiled and said, “Very well. I will bless you. This is what you must do. Go now to your field and pull up a tomato plant. Then immediately go up the hill — to the top, to the tomb of the sheikh — and hold the tomato plant high over the grave. Stay there, holding the plant, for the rest of the day, all night, and until daylight has come again.”
“Pir, Sahib! No! I can’t do this!” the man exclaimed. “After darkness falls tonight I must be in my field opening the ditch and guiding the water back and forth along the rows. This is my only chance to save my crop!”
The pir smiled. “My son,” he said. “I have explained to you the path to blessing.”
Akbar Ali’s enemy stumbled to his feet and staggered out of the tent. His face was twisted in anguish. What would he do!
But behind the tent, a sly smile was spreading across Akbar Ali’s face. If his enemy was at the top of the hill tonight, Akbar Ali could sneak out in the darkness, steal the man’s share of water, guide it along his own crop rows, and no-one would ever know!
Then he stopped. Another thought occurred to him. His smile grew even bigger. And he quietly slipped into the pir’s tent and sat down in front of the holy man.
He said, “Pir Sahib, an unexpected blessing will soon come to me. Bless me. Do some magic and make the blessing twice as big, three times as big, as normal!”
The pir smiled. “Very well. I will bless you. This is what you must do. This evening, just before it is dark, go up the hill to the tomb of the sheikh. There you will find a man holding something above the grave. Offer to hold it for him all night until the morning comes, so he can come down the hill for the night.”
After the story
Did you like that? Was it interesting? Was there something particular that was interesting? Do you know of situations like that? What do you notice in the story that is true about people? Some stories will show us something about who God is or how He interacts with us; did you see anything in this story like that?
The Scriptures
“When people’s lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them.” Proverbs 16.7
“Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” Romans 12.18
“God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the Children of God.” Matthew 5.9
“I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14.27