the land between

I don't like being stuck - being stuck in traffic, in a boring lecture, or in the grocery line. Sometimes being stuck can feel claustrophobic. Recently, I heard Jeff Manion talk about "the land between" and that got me thinking. I think sometimes when we feel stuck in life, we are in that "land between" - that land where life doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense when doing the right thing seems to produce no results; it doesn't make sense to keep trudging through the mundane tasks of daily living when there seems to be no purpose; it doesn't make sense three months or years or decades after the death of someone special and no one else seems to remember your pain but you. Jeff Manion calls this "the land between" and to feel stuck in this land can be absolutely terrifying. You're totally terrified of always being here. Of always being depressed, of always feeling alone, unsure, afraid, or mediocre. But we don't have to be stuck. This land and these feelings aren't a life sentence - a life of stagnation is different than a life temporarily stuck. In fact, the very name "the land between" would suggest that we are going somewhere.

And maybe that's what is so frustrating about the stuck feeling. You know where you want to be or you at least know it's not here. But let's face it - sometimes there are detours, sometimes plans change, we lose the map. Sometimes life is unpredictable and it is in those moments when we feel so stuck that God gets to be God in our lives - if we let him. In the land between, when we feel stuck, broken down, complacent, unsure, battle torn, or even lethargic, we have the privilege of letting God take charge. In fact, I would argue that being stuck is on of our greatest opportunities for growth and maturation.

I know I have found myself in this in-between place. I'm residing there right now, and I suppose that's why Manion's talk so resonated with me. It's like he was saying, "Sarah - listen up. It's not what's happened that's important. It's not your big plans or fears or wants for the future that are to be your primary focus. It's this place right now. This land between that you hate so much, God's ready to show you himself. Stop worrying and striving and just be, just listen, and enjoy the extravagant blessings of the Master Plan-Maker, the perfect Guide, the only One who can bring you from this in-between to his future promises."

And I'm slowly beginning to realize that it is in this in-between land that I truly have the chance to just let God take care of me. Let's face it - life's definitely not going in the direction I had planned just a year ago, or even eight months ago. But God's promises were for something better than my plans, better than my "Egyptian workload," if you will.

I'm even starting to realize that I can be grateful for the uncertainties and the sometimes very dull repetition of just doing daily life, because I'm learning to give even those small moments to God. It's easy to turn to God and ask him for help in a crisis. It's not always so simple to remember to thank him for my lunch. I would even say that I can - that you can - be thankful for the timeline of the land between that can sometimes last mere days or sometimes last years. We can be grateful that God loves us enough to leave us here until we're ready to move on to his promises. Because, honestly, if we're not ready for his promises, they aren't going to mean much. The land between makes them even sweeter, not only because we have struggled to arrive and come out stronger, but because in our struggles, we have had the chance to form a friendship, an alliance, a total dependence on the Promise Creator.

So God, thanks for loving me enough to let me get stuck and thanks for being there to take control when I'm ready to let go again. Thanks, God, for your promises, but thanks too, for the land between.