This past weekend I spent some time in my yard weeding, mulching and spacing apart some of my existing plants to give them access to the spring sunlight. It’s something I do every spring but this time it felt different to me. I took my time carefully looking at the health of the plants. I actually heard the birds singing and chirping as they began to move back into their birdhouse hi-rise condos. As I dug into the soil to plant new spring flowers, I paid close attention to the interesting unsung heroes of any garden and landscape, earth worms. They had been working diligently to aerate the soil throughout the fall and winter.
In one of my readings this week I came across a term – “fallow the ground.” This is an agricultural or gardening term which means to leave the ground or soil unplanted for a period of time. The land is left to rest and regenerate to become more fruitful, thus allowing the soil to have a specific rest period to replenish nutrients vital to ongoing and future growth.
My yard and landscaping took on a whole new meaning as I read Isaiah’s words of good news.
“For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.“
Isaiah 61:11 (NRSV)
We worship a redemptive God who always has a plan. A simple yet vital plan that perhaps he is revealing to us right now. A plan for his will in our life during these unprecedented times.
Perhaps this “new normal” of social distancing is God’s way for us to slow down a bit. While a hindrance, perhaps a time for us to step back and truly value what is important.
Maybe with this additional time we have on our hand we can begin to reassess our priorities in life. Maybe we need to love God….more, with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. This would help us to replenish our life, so we can love our families, our church and our neighbors……. More.
Paul shares with us in Galatians 5:22 (NRSV),
“… By contrast, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.“
As you can see, patience is one of those “fruits” we need right now. As you read the rest of Galatians 5, Paul shares with us the things that we have to let go. Things that bind us like choking weeds, that burden us with a yoke of slavery, that keep us from the freedom of loving our God and our neighbor. If one of these is something you don’t battle or can relate to, read the end of verse 20, “and things like these.”
The prophet Hosea reminds us to break up the fallow ground to make way for the Lord into our lives by prayer, repentance and reformation. Seek the Lord, look up to him for the grace to plant your seeds in fertile ground. Be patient the rains will come.
“Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground;
for it is time to seek the lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.“
Hosea 10:12 (NRSV)
Quite possibly, God is trying to help us understand what His “new normal” is for each of us. Perhaps God wants us to break up the solid, hard packed ground of our life and yank out the weeds we have allowed to grow in our own gardens. Maybe our spiritual gardens need to be exposed to God’s sun and God’s free air, to the influences of spiritual light and warmth, and the dew and soft showers of his grace, so we that we may bear fruit. The fruit that leads to eternal life.
Maybe God’s message for each of us is to slow down, be patient and fallow our grounds.
What will you do differently to honor God’s gift of time in your life? Will you accept His “new normal” or go back to your “old normal?”
Peace be with you,
Kenny Shortsleeve
