In the middle of the story...

Recently my attention has been drawn to moments in the bible and moments in my life that are in the middle of the story.  Sometimes the middle is exciting, sometimes it's discouraging, but most of the time--it's just confusing.

Meditating on the Christmas story, I try to think what Mary and Joseph might have felt. Giving birth to the God child certainly wasn't in their long-range plan. I wonder if they ever thought they just dreamed the whole thing. Did Mary wake up horrified, then relieved thinking it was a dream, only to see her baby bump--and realize again that she was indeed carrying the Christ. (Yeah, I said baby bump.)

Did Joseph have similar thoughts? Did he hit his knees every day with questions? "How exactly is this going to happen again? What do we do once He's born? How do we begin to raise...God?"

I've also been reading about Jesus' last days before the crucifixion.  How did the disciples feel right after the crowd had seized Jesus to put him to death? These men, who were his loyal band, had fled. As time moved forward, Jesus was put to death. Jesus, the One that had given them hope...who had given sight to the blind and brought the dead back to life...was dead. Was their grief saturated with confusion? Was their hope gone? 

They were in the middle of the story.

From the middle, it is hard to see how good can come out of hard times.

From the middle, it is easy to get discouraged.

What do you do in the middle?

After Mary had asked her question about this uparalleled virgin birth, she began to soak in the enormity of the situation. Then she responded in a statement I will never get over. 

"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word."  Luke 1:38  

Obedience. When presented with an incomprehensible task, Mary founded her response in Who God is and her role as His servant. With all that we don't know about what is coming next in the story, we can focus on Who God is.

He is faithful. He is creator. He is sustainer. He is sovereign. He "Is."

So...we are to be obedient in what God has called us to do. We are to trust Him for the details He hasn't revealed to us.

The Christ child was born, and He did grow up, and God managed to help Mary and Joseph figure out what to do each step of the way.

Jesus did die, but in His death and resurrection, the most beautiful exchange took place so that people who could never earn life, would be given eternal life in Christ. 

The disciples didn't have to understand it all and the plan wasn't contingent upon their ability to be faithful to the Lord.

We don't have to understand it all and God certainly doesn't need us either. But as His servants, our goal should be to be faithful to Him. Our only proper response is obedience.

That is not to say that obedience is easy. Or even that we will always know what we should do. Like so many before us, we must seek Him for guidance. We can trust Him to guide us.

Often, obedience is incredibly difficult.

Obedience can be difficult even if we know Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose."

I'm not sure if this statement was original to Martha Morrison, but I think she was the one who said, "Sometimes when people "Romans 8:28" us, it makes us want to "Colt 45" them." So I guess "Romans 8:28" can be used as a verb. That sounds like a Jon Acuff post: www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike. 

In fact, it probably is, because there is a common tension there. Many Christians have a head knowledge that this scripture is true and can bring hope, but then we should all know that there are times when people grieving don't need to be assaulted with it.  "I'm sorry your dad died, well- Romans 8:28..."

I'll leave it to the Holy Spirit to guide you when to share that scripture and when to listen to someone, sit with them, and pray for them.

Back to the middle of the story...yep, you're still there.  We're all still there.

I must admit that one of the reasons I love movies is that I can pretty much predict that in 2 hours all the struggles are going to be resolved.  Those are the kind of movies I like, I'll admit. 

Not one of us knows when our lives or this world will be wrapped up, but we need to be aware and prepared for Christ's return or our last breath.  If you are not, deal with that asap. Seek God, His word and talk to a bible-saturated Christian about how to follow Him. There is no hope for salvation apart from Jesus, and destruction is certain without Him.

Okay, so I just jumped to the end. Just in reference though, there is only one author of time. We can only make sure we are ready for the end. There are no fast-forward buttons.

I'm pretty sure God intended it that way. The middle of the story needs to be there. We need to be here.

Whatever story you find yourself in the middle of, seek the author and perfector of our faith.

Wherever you are in the story, you don't have to be alone.

He.is.there. He.is.here.
God with us.