Wilderness Moments

Today at about 3:30 I was in my office staring at my computer and realized that I was just plain done.  I had been working on the same page of the same document for an hour and had not really gotten anywhere.  It was getting frustrating, and that only made it harder to get anything done.  Have you been there?  

So, I'm not going to write much tonight, except to ask you if you've hit walls like this during this isolated time.  In my head, it seems like I should be having all sorts of free time....but in reality time is different, but things take so much longer.  I have read about our brains during this time, how we enter into this self-preservation thinking because we are really trying to process the trauma of all this change and fear and unknown.  And I have definitely come to realize that my brain is not working as fast as I'd like it to, and am trying to show myself a lot of grace these days.

I think that we might consider this time wilderness time.  Like the Israelites who set out on a journey to an unknown place, trusting that God's promise of goodness would come to fruition.  They didn't know all the details of the journey, they had to trust the Moses was being led by God.  They complained and groaned...and Moses often turned to God with his own complaints and frustrations.  God's leading presence was visible to them, and Moses made sure of that in Exodus 33:

12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

Moses was adamant that he would not move the people until he knew the direction God desired. God's reply was, "my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." There is something deeply restful about allowing God to lead, trusting that God goes before us as we navigate this wilderness journey. Today I was reminded of the gift of peace and rest that God offers even when I am frustrated at my own limitations.

In this wilderness time, how can we become more aware of God's leading presence? Are you yearning for the peace and rest that comes with discerning God's movement? Are you offering yourself grace in the difficult moments? I hope so.

Rest well, friends.

Pastor Devon