Going After the Barren Places
While looking for landscaping materials, a salesman attempted to sell us a $50 rock “with character.” My husband, a farmer at heart, and I both quietly chuckled. No rocks were purchased that day. Our families spent summer days picking up rocks out of the corn and soybean fields. Our farms had piles of rocks (hadn’t considered their “character”) because you can’t have bumper crops—large, productive crops—come out of rocky soil.
For us farmers, rocks in the soil could be the difference between a futile crop versus a fruitful one. If you want a fruitful harvest, then you had better remove the rocks in the soil.
It’s the same issue we face in our spiritual lives. Peter called his followers to holy living with the reminder that we were not redeemed with perishable things like silver of gold from our futile way of life inherited from our forefathers (1 Peter 1:18).
Futile is defined as “incapable of producing any useful result” whereas fruitful is defined as “producing good or helpful results.”
It’s those futile ways of life we inherited that are addressed in Step 7 in The Steps to Freedom in Christ, a prayer and repentance process designed to help you resolve personal and spiritual conflicts with God. In this step, we confess and renounce the futile ways of life in our family lines and choose to take our place in God’s redemptive stream of blessing as children of Abraham.
For me, God did a deeper work as I went through this step for a second time with two trusted friends. He brought to mind a charm bracelet my mom owned with a large single charm. On one side were two little heads with the words “Two Reasons for Happiness,” and on the reverse side were engraved the names of my sister and me. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt as if you were someone else’s reason for happiness, but it’s far from being your happy place. Being autonomous, doing your own thing, or making unique choices was seen as a sign of betrayal and accompanied by a lot of anger, guilt, shame, and other forms of manipulation. As an extension of her, our performance and failure defined much of her worth. Being the oldest, I especially took the brunt of this.
The verbal confession and renunciation of making another my reason for happiness was easy, but there was still work to do. The rocks that were holding back the fruit in my life had been removed and forgiveness was extended. But now there was a hole that needed filling. There were lies that I had bought in as a result of my experience. Here are some examples of how God filled in the holes with his life- giving truths.
Lie: I sometimes feel alone and that is a dark place.
Truth: God is with me and for me. He lights up every dark corner. I have exchanged the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise. When I am suffering, I can entrust my soul to a faithful Creator in doing right.
Lie: Achievements and performance define my worth.
Truth: God defines my worth. In Christ, I am secure and significant.
Lie: Saying no and making unique choices is selfish.
Truth: God is the one who guides, and nothing escapes His notice. He is a good God. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His names’ sake. He provides for me according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
FICM has a great little tool designed to be used to turn the futile places in our lives into fruitful places. It’s called a “Stronghold Buster” and is used best in the company of your spiritual allies. You can learn more about it with the Care and Training ministry of Freedom in Christ by clicking here. Just as it was for our farming fathers and grandfathers, removing rocks requires patience and hard work, but there’s nothing more beautiful than a bumper crop ready for harvest!
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.