There’s this town of Walnut Grove in Little House on the Prairie, where they cooked their food every. single. day. (Can you relate?) and made a big deal out of having guests over by dressing up and breaking out the good dishes. Families greeted their company as they came down the driveway, giddy with anticipation, waving And smiling. Children would sometimes run up to the oncoming wagon as it traveled, and jog alongside it as it came to its resting spot for the evening.
And then there’s the town of Orbit City, home of the Jetsons. Where you move through town with your uniform on and act like robots, not looking at anyone or getting too close. All while messages loop through the overhead speakers, giving instructions on how to conduct yourself properly.
It feels like we’re caught somewhere in between.
This…is the Twighlight Zone.
Somedays, it feels as if I’m floating through space, being turned this way and that by the cord that is fastened to my belt loop. I can flail my arms and fight the pull until I realize, it’s not making a difference in the direction I’m headed. It’s out of my control.
Do you remember the scene in Apollo 13 when Tom Hanks has to manually line-up the lunar module and point it in the right direction before firing up those precious burners? Do you remember what was in the cross-hairs of the tiny window as his point of center?
Planet earth.
His homeland. The only place with color and life. It was a beacon of hope. Hope for a future with the families that these astronauts had left behind and the only hope of not spinning through space for the rest of their lives.
Maybe, in order to stay both calm and hopeful while others have their fingers in our belt loops, we have to stay focused on our center. That thing that brings us life and light and is the only constant that will not move.
In the Bible, Esther was yanked from her comfort zone, but God used her to save the Jewish people.
Joseph was pushed into a pit, but God used him to save a nation from starving during a famine.
Moses had an encounter with a burning bush that pulled him away from his comfortable life and ultimately, save God’s chosen people.
Their roles in history were unexpected. No one could have predicted their push and pull would result in God using their lives as He did. But ultimately, the course of history was changed with each one, moving along as prodded. And that’s where I’m landing today.
No one knows when this episode of the Twilight Zone will end. How many seasons. How many episodes…but I do know who is allowing each scene to play out. I do know who owns the network. And He can be trusted. Perhaps we will find ourselves playing a significant role in God’s plan that we never saw coming. Perhaps this is a call to lean into Him and watch Him work in ways we haven’t yet seen.
He’s our center. Our source of hope. Our constant, true North. The only One who can take this season and use it for His glory and our good.
Ecclesiastes assures us there is a season for everything…
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”
This season will end, and we will heal. And we will build. And we will embrace.
If you’re feeling a little motion sick from all the tugging we are experiencing, put your eyes back onto our immovable, unshakable, all-knowing God.
He knows when this season will end. We can count on that.
Lord,
Thank you for the promise of temporary circumstances and permanent hope.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Simple Faith 