Sometimes It’s Fine Not Being Fine

Sometimes It’s Fine Not Being Fine

I live with a constant expectation to be spiritually pumped.  I think that our brand of Christianity in America supports the illusion that because of all of the great things that God is and all of the great things that God does, we should always be spiritually engaged, full of joy, peace and all of the other evidences of God’s Spirit.

Whew!  That’s a lot of pressure.

And sometimes, I’m just not there.  Which is even worst for pastor-types who should be more than conquerors, leading the charge, keeping everyone else pumped up..  William Wallace was always pumped. How else can you scream out, “Freedommmmmm,” when you’re getting tortured.

Here’s the deal, though.  Because God loves us, sometimes he leads us into a desert.  Not a lot of life in a desert.  Hard, if not impossible to find your own way out.  Made worse because of ‘life is glorious’ expectations.  Some people panic in the desert, and do all sorts of things to find their way out.  Some people give up.

Some people actually find rest and renewal in the desert, because they know that God has not abandoned them.

I don’t wish a desert on anyone.  But, I am for helping people chill about the wrong expectations.  I am for helping people trust that God is with them, that they will again see God in the land of the living.

What have you ever learned about the desert?