Lesson from the Fallow Season: Faithfulness Isn’t Flashy
It’s late February, and we’re hanging in limbo between the promise of spring and the lingering reality of winter. When this fallow season has outstayed its welcome, I grow restless, wondering what to do with myself. The larger question is, what has God asked of us when this fallow season in our souls lingers?
In a word, He calls us to faithfulness. Faithfulness isn’t flashy, but it’s quietly beautiful. It shows up with calloused hands and dirt under its fingernails. It shows up rain or shine, rolls up its sleeves, and does the work required to move the task along.
In this fallow season of my soul, I keep returning to one quiet truth: the purpose of a fallow season is the hidden work. It is the work done in secret places that strengthens and prepares us, making us ready and capable for what comes next. As the Scripture says:
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”(Luke 16:10)
It was in David’s shepherding days that he became a skilled marksman with his sling. It was during his time alone that he honed his raw talent with his harp and voice.
It was desert life that taught Moses to trust God’s timing and ways. It was through sheepherding that Moses learned to lead the Hebrews through the wilderness. It was in the quiet mornings and the stillness of the night that he learned to talk with God and hear His voice. Without the quiet, unseen work in the desert, Moses could never have become the strong and courageous leader of the exodus.
It is these lonely places that cause us to revisit the hard work that makes us strong. It is through that simple hard work that we learn endurance and tenacity. Weariness or discouragement may come, but they are never a reason to quit. It’s in these quiet places of menial work that we become gritty souls and learn the quiet beauty of faithfulness.
Faithful people know they are not working for the accolades of others; they serve for the audience of One. Because they answer to a higher call, they keep showing up, keep serving, and keep doing the hard, unseen work in quiet places that build high-quality character and make common people deep and rich in soul.
Ministers faithfully read, study, and write behind the scenes to serve and lead their flocks well. They do the secret work of prayer, though no one praises or even knows of their faithful prayers—everything, whether private or public, is done for Christ.
Those of us who write stay at the task of putting pen to paper, whether or not someone lauds our wordsmithing. We remind ourselves for Whom we write. We trust Him to guide our well-honed words to their intended mark. We work to illustrate and disseminate the life-changing truth of Scripture into user-friendly bites. We follow the voice of the One Who called us to this holy task.
Those with powerful stories of coming from darkness to light tell them because of the one—the one who needs our story. We revisit and retell our stories well for the sake of the one languishing in the same chains that once bound us. Because we, too, have felt hope slipping away, we tell our story to raise a beacon of hope. We reach into the darkness with the key to unlock their fetters and lift our glowing lantern to illuminate the path into the light. Because of the One Who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light, we stay at the task to rescue the one still chained.
No matter our vocation, every Christian is called to ministry. We are called to be people of prayer who wage warfare in heavenly realms on behalf of others. We are called to be students of the Scriptures, well-equipped to give a strong and reasoned appeal for the sake of the gospel. This is the hard work done in the secret place for every believer. This is the work that makes us strong. Our faithfulness in these quiet places readies us for greater work. Unfaithfulness in these endeavors means we will not be ready for the greater task.
Faithfulness isn’t flashy, but it is essential. Without faithful people doing hard work in secret places, no great task could be accomplished, for showboats and quitters are not up to the difficult tasks. We learn dogged tenacity through hard work in hidden places. We grow steely spines and gritty souls through the quiet word in seclusion.
So, if you are feeling the pull toward the freshness and vitality of spring, yet find your soul still firmly planted in winter, roll up your sleeves one more time and do the work of this hidden place.
Fight holy warfare in prayer on behalf of another. Dig into the holy Scriptures once again, and mine out the true treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In the process, you will find yourself becoming stalwart in spirit, gritty and tenacious of soul. You will be firmly among the faithful, among those who have shown up and done the work. You will find yourself among the quietly beautiful people—not the flashy, but the faithful. For faithfulness isn’t flashy—it’s just quietly beautiful.