Hey… maybe we (you & me) have a few things in common? Well, maybe not the fact that I call these things – thangs – since I’m originally from Texas, but I bet we have other similarities.
I bet we share some of the same names. Not like my given name, Kelly, but names that:
define us: Married * Single * Mommy * Friend
describe us: Happy * Fulfilled * Rested * Content
or maybe even derail us: Weary * Anxious * Hurting * Afraid * Lonely
Names that can result from a life that is unsettled:
a life with frustrating family dynamics or fragile friendships.
a life with difficult bosses, financial troubles or children with “issues”.
a life with a worn & weary body or health complications.
a life of severe loss – divorce or death.
a life where you wake up with this Thang (fill in the blank). Hanging. Over. You.
a life where we have what we don’t want or don’t have what we do want. (read that again)
Life can be hard, complicated & discouraging… and sometimes we just want out!
Out of the discontentment or the discouragement
Out of the unending pain or the overwhelming sadness
Out of this life that is not what we pictured – a life so unsettled!
We want to be anywhere, but here! We want to be on the other side - like the Israelites at the Jordan River. Ready to stop the wandering in the wilderness & start the parade in the promise land!
In Joshua 3, we can catch a glimpse of God’s plan for us when we are living life in the unsettled. And it provides a framework for us in the crossing-over. Many of us can see the other side, where our feet are firmly planted:
where we are loving wives or are content in our singleness
where we are patient moms or are at peace in our empty-nest
where our body may not be healthy, but we are leaning on Him
where circumstances cause such trials, but we are trusting
…where life doesn’t seem so unsettled
Let's camp along the Jordan as we look at Joshua 3, while we wait and watch and worship. Who knows, maybe along the journey… we’ll get a New Name! Isaiah 62:2, 4