In Feast or Fallow
By: Meghan Newkirk
When the fields are dry, and the winter is long
Blessed are the meek, the hungry, the poor
When my soul is downcast, and my voice has no song
For mercy, for comfort, I wait on the Lord
In the harvest feast or the fallow ground
My certain hope is in Jesus found
My lot, my cup, my portion sure
Whatever comes, we shall endure
Whatever comes, we shall endure
On a cross of wood, His blood was outpoured
He Rose from the ground, like a bird to the sky
Bringing peace to our violence, and crushing death’s door
Our Maker incarnate, our God who provides
When the earth beneath me crumbles and quakes
Not a sparrow falls, nor a hair from my head
Without His hand to guide me, my shield and my strength
In joy or in sorrow, in life or in death
A few weeks ago we sang one of my favorite songs during the worship service. The hopeful verses about God being our ultimate provider and the giver of good things are a theme in the song “In the Feast or Fallow.” The song doesn’t promise God giving us the things we want, but instead reassures us that He will be our “strength and shield” in times when the ground is “fallow.” The song speaks of the earth being unsteady ground, dangerous, and full of turmoil. The line “whatever comes, we shall endure” is repeated again and again in the chorus as an overarching theme of the song.
As I sat comfortably on my couch that Sunday morning singing I began to grow increasingly more uncomfortable as we sang some of the lines. I felt nervous about declaring out loud that I would “endure” the challenges of this life willingly with my full trust in God. New questions circled around in my heart as I pondered, was I inviting turmoil into my life by speaking so confidently about enduring hard things? Did I really believe that God’s love for me doesn’t change depending on my circumstances? I had to close my eyes and work hard to sing those words with my newfound trepidation.
In studying the lyrics closer I find the answer to my fears are also in the song. The first verse says very clearly, “For mercy, for comfort, I wait on the Lord.” There is the answer. He is the comfort. He is the mercy I need. This song doesn’t say if we will have harvest or if we will have fallow ground, the author is stating we will have both. Fallow is defined as “farmland that is plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility.” The emptiness or lack of growth we see is really an intentional strategy to produce fruit! Our Jesus “crushes deaths door” and He is “our maker incarnate; our God who provides.” The eternal work has already been done and the enemy, death has been forever conquered because “on a cross of wood His blood was outpoured.” We can take refuge in the promises that God is our Father who provides in all circumstances whether they be comfortable or painful.
I still may cringe slightly when I declare that I can endure all things in Christ, but the alternative is far more bleak. May we all learn to rest in the comfort of our endurance, even when it feels like we may be opening up our lives to challenging times. God is in sovereign control of all things and we can sleep well knowing He is equipping us far better than we can comprehend.
I love this song and even though right now our world seems quite out of hand, God isn’t surprised or taken aback with the state of things. I pray we can all rest in the truth that with Christ “we shall endure, whatever comes.”