A Barren Place Is Not A Mistake

What do we see?

Just an empty field, unseeded and untilled rock-hard clay, choked with weeds, an impossible and overwhelming task. Nothing's going to grow here. We have all found ourselves with such a mess at some point....or now.

But what does God see?

We see dirt and hard ground.  God sees soil just waiting to be sown.  He sees it bursting with fruitfulness.  God is working even in this discouraging landscape, even in what we cannot grasp, replenishing roots, building strength, and restoring His glory in this broken world.

A barren place is not a mistake in His sight.  God has strategically placed us right where we are. 

"Above all, trust in the slow work of God," wrote Pierre Teilard de Chardin.  Fruitfulness takes a long time, trusting God and rolling up our sleeves.  Fruitfulness comes from faithfulness, and it depends on seasons of hard work when nothing flourishes on the surface, but out of sight, rootedness in a million different directions.  And then suddenly and unexpectedly, on one unlikely morning, green shoots of encouragement appear.

The beginning of something new starts long before we see anything different.  Am I willing to get dirt under my nails?  Am I willing to be faithful daily when nothing appears to be happening?  Am I willing to trust God in this? 

And Isaac sowed in that land

   and reaped in the same year

                        a hundredfold. 

                Genesis 26. 12

What are we sowing here on this little patch God has placed each one of us and among the flocks where we find ourselves?   God grants to us not just our daily bread, but our daily seed to sow.  God brings the growth, sometimes in what we catch a glimpse, but more often in what lasts far beyond our lifetimes.  God bears the fruit that lasts generations from our response to Him. 

God calls us to Himself, to be faithful to Him, and to never despise the day of small things.  We would be shocked to know the generational impact from a lifetime of small obediences. 

"Plant sequoias,"  suggests Wendell Berry, the largest trees that last forever. Every tree in the deep forest emerges from a tiny seed of faithfulness.

The point is this:  whoever sows sparingly

       will also reap sparingly,

and whoever sows bountifully

      will also reap bountifully.

                 2 Corinthians 9. 6

Is this just hardscrabble or rich soil?  Three times in scripture, God says, "Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place you are standing is holy ground."  Acts 7. 33, Exodus 3. 5, Joshua 5. 15 

Do I see this place, this job, this assignment as holy ground?  I can't change the world, but I can be faithful with the one square foot of soil God has placed before me, one patch of holy ground for His glory, even if I never see the outcome.

How do we respond to this barren place?  Just start by walking out into the field.  Take one step of obedience and the next step will emerge. God will reveal how to do it. 

 Jesus says, "The sower went out to sow."  (Matthew 13. 30)