in the middle of everything. Now I know that is a gross overstatement, but sometimes you just get in between the beginning and the end of things and well frankly it is dull in the middle.
Dull in that the excitement of the “new” has worn off and now life and its processes have become routine. The end is still a way off and now all there is to do is keep doing what you have been doing and wait. That is what I mean by “in the middle.”
In the middle time stands still and it seems you are going to be there forever. You stand at a crossroads (good name) and the three directions before you look very similar. I think of a four-way stop in the desert each direction has sand, scrub brush and road. Which way to go? Each looks the same dull, similar scenery. That’s what you see. That’s not what is.
Change is inevitable. Soon the ending will come and with it excitement and the satisfaction of the completion of a job. Hopefully well done but completed none the less. In the coming days I will share in wedding vow renewal ceremony at Tybee. This couple has been married 20 years and wanted to remember but also look forward. Their youngest child will be graduating high school in 2011. They will be empty nesters looking at each other wondering what to do. Which course will they take? Sometimes marriage is dull in the middle but it will change. Life changes it never stays the same.
Our spiritual life is no different. Sometimes life seems dull and boring. God is quiet and we are “in a funk” as a friend said this week. Then I read these words the next day by Chuck Swindoll in an e-mail called “Waiting and Listening.” Read what he said.
In my four-and-a-half decades of pastoral ministry, I have had many, many occasions to wait on God. I still do today. Sometimes it drives me nuts! But honestly, I would have it no other way.
It requires a sensitive eye to watch the movement of God in your life. All He may do is turn your attention in another direction. But that may be all you need. As you wait and watch, also listen to Him with a sensitive ear in the pages of Holy Scripture. Pore over a favorite passage in His Word.
Quietly give attention to His presence, and He will give you direction when it’s time.
Great advice from one who has been there more than once. You can read this at http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83445441b53ef0133f23b13a9970b
No comments:
Post a Comment