Skipping To The End

Abigail and Dolley readers do you skip to the end of a book to find out what happens?  Do you fast forward a movie to the closing scenes?  If you've missed a TV broadcast, do you search for a recap or do you wait for the episode post?  Most folks do not do any of these things, we enjoy vicariously watching others on their journey.  We like the story, the struggle, the growth, and the journey; but most of all we love the happy ending.  We know it's coming so we sit on pins and needles and watch the drama unfold.  Why then, in our own lives, do we want to skip to the end?

Missing Your Life for Work

In our own lives, the struggle is not that much fun.  We want to quickly skip through the pain and get to the good stuff.  Several years ago, Adam Sandler starred in a movie where he found a remote that would speed up his life.  At first, it was a blessing but towards the end it was heart breaking to see the result of a life not lived.  As Christians, the Lord will not allow our story to unfold that way.

In retrospect, most of the time, when we look back we would not trade who we became out of the struggle for an easier time.  Even some of the toughest times, if given long enough will dull in pain and we can see God's hand on us: guiding, forming, and changing.  We choose not to relive but we appreciate the journey.

Waiting in the Wilderness

Friends, I am guilty of fast forward prayers.  I am particularly impatient with long waits and no progress, like the camping section of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Languishing in the wilderness, isolated, confused, and tormented by the voice of the evil one - we desperately seek to escape those times but the Lord will use them for our good if we let Him.  So appreciate the day, enjoy the journey, find joy in today.  As Christians, we hold on to the certainty of a happy ending.

Israel's Faithful Generation

Abigail and Dolley readers I have been thinking about the wilderness lately, probably because metaphorically I am wandering around in it.  Now the wilderness of a middle class American would make most of the rest of the world and previous generations scoff at the ease, but God meets you where you are and it doesn't have to be life or death for it to be serious in your life.  The wilderness can be anything that leaves you anxious, worried, and fearful and is dominated by the fact that you in your own power can not change it.

In the wilderness, we look around and say if God doesn't show up, we are in big trouble.  The wilderness if full of pain.  We as humans hate pain and try to avoid it at all costs.  The wilderness if full of uncertainty.  We like to know where we are going and how we are going to get there.  Your wilderness will be different from mine but regardless of the circumstances, walking in the wilderness is never comfortable.

From our perspective, we would avoid it all together, but from God's that is a different story.  We are never closer to Him than when we are wandering in the desert.  We never rely on him harder than when we are powerless.  We never eat His Word and breath His Spirit more than when we are depending on Him for everything.  Paul writes that we are never stronger through God than when we are weak.  In our weakness, His power is made perfect.  So we should rejoice in our troubles because when we are weak then we are strong.

Consider Israel's greatest generation - Joshua's Israel.  The first generation out of the wilderness.  These are the children that walked through the dry land of the Red Sea and beheld the great miracles of the Exodus.  These are the children born in the desert who grew up on manna and quail.  These are the children who looked up at the cloud of God by day and the pillar of fire by night.  These are the people who the desert stripped fear, unfaithfulness, and murmuring from their hearts.  These mighty warriors did not balk at marching around the walls of Jericho at the order of the Lord.  These mighty men of God operated in His power.  This generation was the only faithful generation of Israelites and they were products of the wilderness.

I encourage you today, if you find yourself in the wilderness consider the good that the Lord is working in your heart.  In spite of your fears, trust the Lord to do a good work in you.  Trust Him to see you through this trial.  Hold on to the hope that we are at our strongest and most faithful when we emerge from the wilderness.  Cast your anxiety upon the Lord, for He loves you.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and with all your mind, lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge the Lord and He will direct your paths.  For we are not given a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  Fear not, for He is with you always, even until the end of the age.