Wednesday, May 18, 2011

stuck in the middle

Here I am in the middle of the week, in the middle of the month, and in the middle of a journey. Remember back when I first moved home and thought my Promised Land journey was finally coming to an end? Boy was I wrong. Apparently I am not a good guesser when it comes to determining where I am on my journey, but if I did have to make a guess I would assume I'm somewhere in the middle based on this relatable quote from Beth Moore's book Believing God...

"The middle of any challenging journey can be the most critical point. Many of us may not be where we were, but we're not yet where we want to go. Perhaps the terrible bondage of Egypt is behind us, but the land of promise seems remote. The longer we wander in the wilderness between, the greater the chance we'll return to captivity. The pull of familiar comforts and habits can feel overpowering, particularly against the uncertainty of Canaan's unknowns."

It is in trying times like these that I think about C.S. Lewis' book The Screwtape Letters. There is a certain part in the book where Screwtape is teaching Wormwood how to manipulate a human's weak and tired spirit to make him completely give up...

'Let his inner resolution be not to bear whatever comes to him, but to bear it "for a reasonable period" - and let the reasonable period be shorter than the trial is likely to last. It need not be much shorter...the fun is to make the man yield just when (had he but known it) relief was almost in sight."

Pete Wilson, the pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Nashville, attached a challenging thought to that passage in his book Plan B by saying, "How many times has that exact demonic trick been used on you? How many times have you missed witnessing God at work in the midst of your shattered dream because you gave up on him five minutes - or five years - too soon?"

No turning back now. Lord, help me see this to the end.

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