Photo copyright © Michelle Holderman

There's just something really beautiful and inspiring about a barren field to me. I love the way it looks. I love how big and open it is. I love its simplicity. I love to photograph it.

Even though nothing is tangibly growing, a barren field holds great potential, a field of dreams, if you will. This is somewhat symbolic of some seasons we all go through in our lives.

Sometimes we're planting and sowing, sometimes we're waiting for the harvest to come in, and sometimes we're reaping great abundance. Then there are other times when we're just sitting dormant with nothing special going on. Or so it seems.

If you know anything about farming or gardening, you know a great deal goes on beneath the surface during these times. In other words, underground is where all the action is at. Many important preparatory things take place out of sight here, and this process is what readies the ground for its next growing cycle.

After so many years, a field needs to sit out an entire growing season so the ground can replenish itself. It is the equivalent of resting, and it's necessary.

So it is with us.

Sometimes, God places us in a kind of dormancy in order to prepare us for what lies ahead. We need these seasons of silence, inactivity, and rest to produce greater, more excellent harvests in the future.

These rest periods can feel really good, like a much-needed break. However, it might not feel so great for some of us, especially if it goes on for an extended period of time. One can start feeling overlooked after a while, even lonely and forgotten.

Still, while there doesn't seem to be anything remarkable happening during this time, He is at work deep within us, beneath the surface. He's working to replenish and ready us so we can cultivate what He has planted in the soil of our hearts and spirits. He's preparing us to grow out our purpose, which is a necessary and refining process that leaves us matured with finer potential.

Yes, those big, full fields beaming with their ripe bounty sure are an amazing sight to see. But sometimes, barren fields are most beautiful.

Michelle

Michelle Holderman
Copyright © 2013