Metal hit rock and broke dirt as I dug up the ground,
preparing it for seed.
“Dig up your fallow ground”
I paused for a split second, and then continued to dig;
Those words came into my thoughts out of nowhere with beautiful clarity and
decided to hit replay in my brain.
Hmmmm…. I pondered upon them as I continued to tear out the
grass.
I knew those words came somewhere from the Bible… spoken by
YHWH to the Israelites, warning them to turn from their wicked ways before they
brought destruction upon themselves.
Cool. I didn’t give it another thought.
I continued to work on the garden through the week, tilling
untamed ground, conquering the land, basking in the feel of fresh dirt and
sun.
(as a side note… ‘burrowing’ into the ground with a shovel
is one of my favorite activities, I love it, solely for the satisfaction of
digging J )
One evening, as I tore up my stubborn ground, those same words
came unannounced, once again, into my thoughts.
And then… it began to rain.
Those rejuvenating drops of cool refreshment like a cool
mist over my aching body; invigorated, I shoved that shovel deeper into the
ground, working now with renewed determination under the joy of pouring rain.
Mud, sweat, and water
Dripped off of me into the dirt
...and I felt incredibly alive.
After I dug up an entire garden plot and then some, I washed
up and went inside.
I needed to look up those words; as I did, I sat there,
kinda stupified.
Sow for yourselves
righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow
ground,
for it is the time to
seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
Hosea 10:12
Break up your fallow ground… that he may come and rain
righteousness
Wow!!!
I couldn’t have experienced a more concrete example of this
verse, I had worked all week breaking
up that hardened ground into mounds of fresh, beautiful, tilled dirt…
and then came the rain!
Amazing.
Was YHWH telling me something?
I looked at the action words in those verses…
“Sow righteousness…
break up your fallow ground
seek the Lord”
The Lord brought to mind something he told me a few months
prior; words He had spoken to the Israelites in the distant past…
You will seek me and
find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
I could not let these pass me by.
Jesus had my attention
now, and I needed to listen.
I’ve been wrestling with God for a while over several issues… wrestling and wrestling, and wrestling some more.
Seeking answers, finding none, and settling into a
tumultuous storm of confusion;
yet God is not the author of confusion… but rather, of a sound mind.
For God hath not
given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2
Timothy 1:5
As a side note, it is a sound and firm mind I seek. Decision-making
skills have forever eluded me; It’s an area I struggle with, an area I'm trying to conquer.
The next evening as I spoke with dad, I discovered he had
been fasting, and was doing so for seven days. He talked about it casually, and
I was surprised… I hadn’t a clue.
The next morning, on the spur of the moment, I decided a
good step toward breaking up my fallow ground and seeking the Lord was to give
up my daily comfort of food for a few days and seek seriously the heart of my
Father.
So I did.
… and it was unbelievably worth it.
Break up your fallow
ground
for it is time to
seek the Lord
that he may come and rain righteousness upon
you.
