He’s in the In-Between Too

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I have always found February to be a particularly tiring month. Christmas has come and gone. The idea of a brand new year has worn off. It’s cold outside. I struggle with an exercise routine. There’s nothing new on the horizon at the moment. Spring is a couple of months away and I’m tired.

My daughter and I have been discussing graduation and college orientation dates, but she’s still stuck in the doldrums of her high school schedule and all of the stress that it entails. She’s tired.

This time of year is one of those in-between times. The trees are bare and the earth is asleep. Intellectually, we know spring is coming, but it seems far away.

Life can get like that too. Sometimes we find ourselves trudging through day after day, with no excitement and no big plans. We feel like tomorrow will be just another repeat of today. There’s nothing tragic going on, but nothing exciting either.

We may yearn for change. We may pray for change and yet, we find ourselves wandering from day-to-day. We wonder if God hears us or if He can even use us anymore. Is He done with us?

The Bible is full of people in similar predicaments. Joseph was stuck in Egypt as a slave or a prisoner for thirteen years before God delivered him. Moses was a simple shepherd for around forty years before the burning bush incident when God called him to lead the Israelites out of captivity. After David was anointed by Samuel to become the king of Israel, it would be around twenty years before he actually became the king.

One of the most amazing things about the Bible, is that it is filled with imperfect people who can give us hope. When we read the stories of the people in it, we find flawed humans like ourselves, who often spend a lot of time in-between. Some of them were promised big things and had to wait. Some of them never even dreamed of being used by God in big ways. Some of them simply lived simple lives that were disrupted by something huge.

Whatever the individual case is, we can always see God at work in their stories. We can see Him arranging things in ways that would be impossible for them to have ever imagined, much less created on their own. All He required is faithfulness and obedience, a willingness to be used.

And so it is with us today. No matter where we are in our journey, whether we are at the top of our game, or in a pit, or just stuck in the in-between, if we woke up today, God is not done with us. He has a plan. He is at work.

If we need a reminder, we can crack open a Bible. It’s full of them. A cold and dreary February day reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂