The Middle

The middle of anything is hard, isn't it? The halfway point of my sophomore-year statistics course almost did me in. I was certain the baby was never coming during month five of pregnancy. Hour seven of a thirteen-hour road trip? Interminable! The middle lacks the excitement and cachet of a new beginning as well as the hopeful expectation of the finish line. The middle is gritty, grueling, sometimes confusing, and often boring.

What about the middle of our life's story? Not the technical center point measured in years but those one or two times during every believer's journey, when God throws us into a pressure cooker season(s) of life. When the walls are pressing in, the fire is nipping at our heels and each new day brings a fresh trial. When the suffering, the waiting, and the silence leave us wondering if God forgot about us. Where is God and is He really in control? Is the faith we've always professed with our mouths as solid as we've always believed?

Dive into the four Gospel letters and book of Acts over the next six weeks to learn more about the character and ways of our steadfast, unchanging God, who tends to refine all His followers by the fiery middle portion of our stories. Search the Master Storyteller's Holy Book for the patterns He used to develop John the Baptist, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Jesus's disciples, apostles, and other faithful followers. My prayer is that in doing so, you will more deeply know and love the God who placed a call on your life before the foundation of the world. View the gritty, painful, and mundane middle through the lens of His kingdom mission for you. Be refreshed in your weariness.