It has been a season for the books. I am sure I’ve written
similar phrases periodically through these days as I have grappled with and
processed it along the way.
Six months of time and transition. Mom’s passing last spring, already six months
ago (the reality comes in waves that both of our parents are now gone,
punctuated again this week on what would have been Dad’s birthday). Another one of our children was married, there
is a continual whirlwind pace at work, sorting Mom’s house and our childhood
memories and the layers of decades that were tidily packed onto neat shelves in
her home. All of this came on the heels
of a rough and heartbreaking season at the place we’d been a part of for forty
years and the settling in that we’ve begun in a new little gathering that is
being rooted in the soil of God’s goodness and will as we listen in prayer and
hear and care for one another. But life’s
road is bumpy at times, no matter who you are.
Our community is in the throes of an epidemic of heroin overdoses
and the resulting effects that it takes on our police and rescue teams and
hospitals, as well as the families that are being torn apart by the addictions
that seem to be running the show. Our
nation, too, is facing an election that has many of us scratching our heads and
one in which the outcome of our ballots will be significant.
And so, one morning last week I was feeling the squeeze of
all of this. Granted, in the midst of
the challenges, there have been many sweet moments and the evidence of God’s
stunning ability to BE God in the face of any difficulties, but it has pressed
me still. That morning I had a more than
vague sense of being in a tight tunnel, not knowing exactly what the outcome
would be when some of these things were resolved. I have been off my “game” in these busier
than normal months, out of rhythm, not seeing or feeling where I am
heading. And in the middle of talking
with Him about it, He floated an image to me.
It was kind of like receiving a postcard from a friend who was on holiday,
who could enjoy a great scene because they weren’t trapped in the wrappings and
stresses of everyday. Many messages that
God sends have that feel…clarity brought into the muck. It is one of the things that has enamored me
toward this sovereign being who loves and guides. This message was no less impacting than any
of His others. I am not in a tunnel; I
am in a birth canal. Yes, I am being
squeezed. Yes, it is dark. And He is at work to move me as I go. He is good and bringing me through this time
and space toward something new. I have
experienced it before…the discomfort of transition as I am being moved to new
seasons and spaces. This one has been
primarily centered around losses, so I had missed some of the perspective that
it is also the path to new things.
No matter how far along we are in the journey, we have a God
who is always doing His work to heal and restore and work deeply. We have no reason to fear. I had gotten sidetracked from some of that
hope in the busyness and am grateful that He spoke His greater truth to me
again and called me back. No matter
where I am going, I am always home in Him.
He is a good land and a sure foundation.
Photograph from morguefile.com by Chriele78
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