Let The Field Go Fallow

Sometimes you've just got to stop what you're doing and make a change. I felt that way last spring as I came just short of my seventh anniversary as a worship leader at our former church. The job was a blessing and the people there made my tenure a joy.

The problem comes when the job takes over and the calling of God takes a back seat. The mindset, then, is feeling financially locked-in, making it seemingly impossible to leave. For me, it was the right time to leave; I knew it without a doubt. I had to take a break, trust God for our household expenses and make the leap of faith. After all, isn't God our provider and not our employer?

I read an article in Premier Guitar magazine yesterday about Bonnie Raitt. She is releasing her first album in seven years this April. The interviewer asked what took her so long. Her answer rang true in my own heart as I pondered the past year of relative quiet, obscurity and time spent as a normal, every-day guy in the congregation of our new church (that's a whole other blog entry!). Bonnie replied:

"Sometimes you need to clear the deck and let the field go fallow...being home is a real vacation you want to have. So I got to balance some of the other aspects of my life and be with family and friends and really enjoy some time at home."

Letting the ground go fallow--plowing it and getting it ready for the seeds of a new crop-- is a gift that God gives us every so often. It's the physical, spiritual and emotional rest we receive during the down time that restores us and prepares us for new opportunities. I think of this past year as my "Year of Jubilee" (Leviticus 27:21).  What a wonderful year of restoration it has been!

 

"Break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you."(Hosea 10:12).