Amy Grant used to have this song called "The Now & Not Yet." That song has come out of a decade long sleep in my head (actually it was about 2 decades ago) and has been playing in my mind for the past two weeks The chorus goes something like this:
But I'm caught in between
The now and the not yet;
Sometimes it seems like
Forever and ever,
That I've been reaching to be
All that I am,
But I'm only a few steps nearer,
Yet I'm nearer....
This describes my life lately. Wait, it always describes my life. Don't you always feel as though you are constantly caught "in-between" something happening?
It is on these days that we long for change. Our dreams are on pause. Life feels that it is moving fast in some ways, yet so slow in other ways. This phase feels long. We sometimes cease to feel the presence of God. Yet He is there.
This past Sunday I had the privilege of speaking at my church. I spoke on "Detours" in our lives and how we can respond through those detours. The passage I shared was from Numbers 14: 20-24, where Caleb was described by God as having a "different spirit and following [God] wholeheartedly." (If you'd like to hear the message, go to this website and scroll until you find the "Detour Ahead" message). After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness with over 2 million people, only 2 men were allowed to enter the Promised Land: Joshua and Caleb. Only these 2 men, out of 2 million people, had the right perspective and attitude about their detour. As I prepared for that message, I felt like I was preparing it specifically for me. I have not had the attitude of Caleb. Instead, I've had the attitude of the Israelites: whining, complaining, questioning, and being impatient. But Caleb had a different spirit, and I want that.
The reality is, not only do we have detours in life, but this entire life IS a detour. We are on our way to spend an eternity in heaven, and this is not our home. This entire life IS the in-between. So we should not lose heart when we feel another detour has happened, or another dream is on hold, or we have to wait another day for our hope to be realized. We should not lose heart when we feel that we are constantly living in the in-between. This should only make our hearts yearn for heaven even more.
May we be able to have the spirit of Caleb, who followed the Lord wholeheartedly, whether we are on a detour, or in the "in-between".
That's a great message and application. A few verses I remind myself of often are "the boundary lines for me have fallen in pleasant places" (I think Psalm 18) and how I need to trust where God has placed me and the simple one "this is the day the Lord made" trusting the day I'm in, whatever it holds, is what God wants for me. Every day does matter.
ReplyDeleteGreat readinng your blog post
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