Leviticus 25:18-22: a reflection

18“‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety. 19The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;” 21then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years. 22You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.

God commands his people to let the land rest every seventh year, neither sowing nor reaping. This obedience raised an obvious worry: What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we do not sow or gather? God anticipates the fear and answers it with a promise: I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will bring forth fruit for three years. He would provide, in advance, enough to carry them through the year of rest and beyond, so that obeying him would not leave them short.

Notice how God provided for the obedience he asked. The command to let the land rest looked, to human reasoning, like a recipe for hunger; it seemed that obeying would leave them without enough. But God promised to provide beforehand, to give in the sixth year a harvest large enough to cover the seventh and beyond. The obedience that looked risky was made possible by God's provision; he would not command what he did not also provide for.

That is a reassurance for the times when obeying God looks costly or risky. God sometimes asks us to do what seems, by ordinary reasoning, likely to leave us short, to give when it seems we cannot afford to, to rest when it seems we cannot spare the time, to obey when it seems it will cost us. But God provides for the obedience he commands. He does not ask us to obey and then abandon us to the cost; he goes before, and provides. When obedience to God looks risky, remember his promise to provide the harvest before the year of rest. Trust that the God who calls you to obey will also provide for it, and do not let the fear of being left short keep you from obeying the God who provides.

Lord, when you commanded your people to let the land rest, and they feared what they would eat, you promised to command your blessing in the sixth year, providing enough to carry them through; you would not command what you did not also provide for. Reassure me with that when obeying you looks costly or risky. You sometimes ask me to do what seems, by ordinary reasoning, likely to leave me short, to give when it seems I cannot afford to, to rest when I cannot spare the time, to obey when it seems it will cost me. But you provide for the obedience you command; you do not ask me to obey and then abandon me to the cost, but go before and provide. When obedience looks risky, help me remember your promise to provide the harvest before the year of rest. Help me trust that you who call me to obey will also provide for it, and not let the fear of being left short keep me from obeying you, the God who provides.