Are we nearly there yet?
By Annmarie Miles
(From the April - June 2021 issue of VOX)
I wonder if I am starting to get insight into how God’s people felt when they were wandering in the desert. Doing the same thing, seeing the same people, eating the same food and going around in circles. The sameness of lockdown is starting to get to me. I am grateful to have a home and food and people who love me. But some days I feel like these four walls are closing in. I know I’m not alone. A friend, who has been working from home for over a year, told me they felt they were starting to fray around the edges.
An older lady in our church has been saying to God, “I don’t have many seasons left on this earth Lord, how many more of them will I spend stuck in this house?” She has become acutely aware of the promise from God that our times are in His hands. (Psalm 31:15)
And what are we doing in the meantime? Have you completed a 5k? Hands up if you’ve redecorated. Who has mastered a new language or sorted out neglected cupboards? Not me! What has this year achieved for those of us who haven’t been baking sourdough bread? Yes, there is an end in sight, praise God, but it’s small on the horizon and it will take time before we can all live our lives as we used to. We’re not at the end of our journey yet.
“Their time of waiting and wandering came to an end. Ours will too.”
Of course for some, this past year has not just been a time of waiting. It has been a time of worrying and grieving as friends and loved ones have succumbed to the virus. If this season has given us more time, let’s commit to praying for those who have been most affected.
God’s timing rarely matches ours but one thing we do know from the story of those 40 years is that God’s people were not left in the desert forever. Their time of waiting and wandering came to an end. Ours will too. And in the meantime, there is provision for the people of God.
Keep praying. Keep trusting. We’re nearly there.
Annmarie Miles is originally from Tallaght and now lives in her husband Richard’s homeland, Wales. As well as VOX articles, she writes short stories, and is working on a book about her journey with food, weight gain, weight loss and God. Visit her blog at www.auntyamo.com. On Twitter she is @amowriting.
