Taken off the comfortable path ...
(Editor’s Note: This column is written by a different Littlefield pastor for the Leader-News each week. The columns are published on this page on Wednesdays.)
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness” and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19
As a young child growing up here, there were very rare occurrences when we heard a tornado warning or even out at my grandparents farm we occasionally saw big dust rolling in out in the distance.
What we experience Sunday evening in our little town was nothing like I had been through in 41 years on this earth. The entire sky mud brown as debris, branches, and whatever else it go grab violently whistled across our windows. I was waiting for the Wicked Witch to fly by on a broom. My wife and kids started to worry a little as I assured this would pass, and just like that…..there goes the power.
Almost two hours we waited in the near dark waiting for some sign of our “regular” routine to return. My kids begin to truly panic, worrying about the dark, worrying about not being able to use everyday necessities. They themselves hadn’t ever experienced anything like this as well. As time continued, we refocused our attention on the things that mattered in the moment; one another. We took our brood to the front of our house, and I began to sing worship songs playing the piano. Our family begin to sing and dance around, enjoying the melodies that would fill our darkened home. Soon thereafter, we found a few candles to give us a bit of light. We then all huddled on the couch as we all took turns making up some fun and incredible stories about dogs going to Hawaii, airplanes flown by ducks, and rabbits stealing carrots. Right as we finished our story, the power came back on. The kids screamed with glee as we prepared for bed and got back to normal.
We are grateful to all of those that serve our community in time like this, but I feel at times God can teach us a lot in the desert and the dark. We make things in our culture so “normal” that our vision for life is lost upon excess and not what is vital and necessary. When we lose those things, we live lives of fear, chaos, and desperation. Sometimes the dark is the best place to return to God’s goodness.
He is good in the trying times to make a way. He will forever be victorious in the hills and the valleys of our journey. For us to understand the “new” way of living, we must first be taken off the comfortable path.
Sunday was a minor setback that we endured, but for some, we thought it might be the end of it all. Yet, God is faithful in the desert and the wilderness. Whatever you may be in the middle of right in this moment, I hope this is a reminder that He too is in the middle of it, ready to do something new. Don’t drown in despair but be prepared for Him to overcome the obstacle.
In Him, Brent Hall