The Farmer Who Planted Through Drought

In the spring of 1988, outside Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Dale Hendricks stood at the edge of his wheat field and watched the dust lift off cracked soil. Three months without rain. His neighbor Roy had already decided not to plant — why waste seed on ground that couldn't give anything back?

Dale's wife, Carol, found him on the porch that evening, staring at the seed bags stacked in the barn. "If we plant and it doesn't rain, we lose everything," he said. Carol sat beside him and said quietly, "And if we don't plant, we've already lost."

The next morning, Dale drove his planter across every acre. He buried seed in dirt that felt like powder. Roy leaned on the fence and shook his head.

Six weeks later, the rains came — not a drizzle, but three days of steady, soaking downpour. By August, Dale's wheat stood chest-high across fields that had looked like a graveyard in April. Roy's acreage sat empty.

This is what the Lord Almighty means in Malachi 3:10 when He says, "Test Me in this." He is the only One in all of Scripture who invites you to put Him to the proof. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse — plant the seed even when the ground looks impossible — and watch Him throw open the floodgates of heaven. The blessing is already prepared. He is simply waiting for you to trust Him with the soil.