Happy September!

We’ve arrived at the time of year that brings the sound of kids going back to school, the smell of pumpkin spice lattes, and a chill riding the wind. This month wraps itself in burnt orange and rain, reminiscent of endings and new beginnings. In a way, it feels like turning the page in a book to a new chapter.

As seasons change, literally and figuratively, I’ve found myself thinking more and more about faithfulness. There is a certain verse in the Bible that haunts me:

“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:62 – KJV

There have been times in my life where I’ve been tempted to look over my shoulder and fixate on the way things used to be. Then I remember that there’s a man that called me to keep going forward, with my eyes locked on Him. And so I wonder: what does faithfulness look like when seasons change?

A Tale of Two Plows

There’s a story in the Old Testament that echoes Jesus’s plow metaphor in Luke. When Elijah calls Elisha to be his successor, Elisha was plowing his field. Elijah the prophet arrives and places his cloak on Elisha. In that moment, Elisha knew that there was a call of God  upon his life. He asks the prophet for time to say goodbye to his family and Elijah agrees. 

Elisha then does something wild. He takes his livelihood and inheritance and offers it up to God as a sacrifice. He shares the meal with his family, and then follows Elijah into a life he probably never dreamed or imagined (1 Kings 19:19-21).

This story is almost a direct opposite of Jesus’s words in the New Testament. For Jesus, leaving everything behind and keeping your eyes fixed forward is the definition of faithfulness. For Elisha, faithfulness was burning the plow, sharing with his family, and then following Jesus. So how do you know when it is the season to burn the plow and when it is the season to lean into the plow?

A Season to Burn the Plow

There was an initial moment when we all agreed to say yes to Jesus. This was the moment that we choose faithfulness to Him over faithfulness to everything else. For Elisha, this moment came on an ordinary Tuesday (or some other day of the week) where he was going about his daily life.

The thing that draws my attention here, though, is that Elisha’s calling wasn’t fully laid out. Elijah stops him while he is plowing, places a coat on him, and walks away. With nothing else but the implication of the action, Elisha knew God was calling him into something greater.

Many times, we expect God to make every single thing about our lives crystal clear. But while God will always lead with peace, He will rarely reveal the entire plan. What He will do is extend an invitation. He will show us the first next step. What we do with that is entirely up to us.

Elisha received the invitation from God, and what he did with it was incredible. He took every bridge to his old life and burnt it, not because Elijah told him to nor because it was a requirement, but because he wanted to offer unto God all he had. With nothing holding him back, he wanted to serve Elijah.

Here’s the deal: Elisha came from a wealthy family. He was plowing a field with twelve yokes of oxen, and he himself was leading the twelfth pair. This means that there were eleven other men working the field with him. This wasn’t a small farm, but a large operation. With this amount of hired help, Elisha had no need to be working, but there he was at the very end of the procession with the very last team, working on the family farm like a hired hand.

When the prophet calls him, Elisha asks for permission to return to his family, and the reason he returns is to take his inheritance, his own plow, and burn it. Elisha was making a declaration that he was leaving his wealth, his family, and all his security behind. He was making a statement that from now on, he would be faithful to God and Elijah with no plan B.

Elisha’s family life wasn’t evil. It wasn’t bad to be a farmer. But still he chose to dispose of these ties because he wanted to give God a complete yes. This is what faithfulness looks like in the beginning. It is a singular, threshold moment that costs us something.

Beautifully, Elisha’s family participated in this. They all feasted on Elisha’s sacrifice. In the same way, our yes to God can become a blessing to those surrounding us.

A Season to Lean Into the Plow

But what happens when it’s been years since you’ve said yes to God? What happens when you’re in the new field God called you into, only to find yourself growing weary and tired and wondering why you even said yes in the first place?

This is the moment you lean into the plow.

In Luke 9:62, Jesus had been speaking to three different men who gave excuses for why they couldn’t follow Him. In answer to the third, Jesus says that: “no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Back then, everyone would have gotten the point. Plowing was a job that required a person to lean into a plow so that their weight would create furrows on the ground. They would need to fix their eyes on a point ahead, because if they looked down then the furrows would turn out crooked and all the effort would be wasted.

Jesus was saying that if you give your yes to Him, then you have to lean into the work He has given you and stay the course with your attention focused on Him. Faithfulness, in this season, looks like fixing your eyes on Jesus and staying the course no matter how grueling the work. This is where discipline comes in. These are the seasons where we have to lean into prayer, worship, reading the Word, and persevering in community.

There will be a temptation to look back. We will want to look back to the moment when we burnt another plow to follow a Man, forsaking every plan B and the ties that made us feel safe. Maybe, at this moment, we won’t be tempted to completely abandon the field, but the constant backward-glancing while our hand is still on the plow is what can become dangerous. If our eyes aren’t fixed on Jesus, then the furrows will grow crooked. This can be a dangerous place, and to put it like Hebrews does, we could shipwreck in our faith.

So what does faithfulness look like after we’ve already given our yes to Jesus? It looks like staying the course, persevering, and stewarding what God has given us right now. It looks like being intentional even when the going gets rough. And here, in the middle of a field that seems endless, God is still present. He is the sustainer of our strength. When He calls us unto a field, He gives us everything we need to keep at it.

Curiously, Elisha’s ministry always held that same farm flavor he left behind. He healed bitter waters with salt, and added flour to poisoned vegetable soup. The farmer in him was still very much alive. When God calls us to a field, He doesn’t erase who we are; rather He brings us into our true destiny.

There is a time to burn the plow in dedication to God, but there is also a time to lean into it and remain faithful. There is a time to surround ourselves with people who will cheer us on in our calling, and there is a time to sever ties with those who may hold us back and become a distraction to staying the course.

Whatever season you are in, my prayer for you is that you will remain faithful to the One who called you. In the words of Hebrews 12:3: “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Thanks for reading!
Anna

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Picture taken from Pinterest.