Jesus experiences the amazing affirmation that he is the beloved of God. Then he’s driven into the wilderness. It seems so strange. Elijah experiences an astonishing victory where one prophet essentially defeats hundreds. Then he flees to the wilderness in fear..
Luiza and I had a brilliant final year in college. We got married. We were heading to a new life in India with a new job, with new hopes. It all collapsed. Well, thankfully our marriage didn’t. It’s like we were primed to do something but then sent into nothing. Why does God do this time and again? I’ve often heard of the term refinement. Yet refinement is a word that doesn’t portray the sheer breakdown that is required in order to be a canvasser of the kingdom.
So I think it’s the breaking of delusion. For we have so many false hopes, false expectations and false impressions. These need to be broken down. The wilderness gives us the chance to do so. And it is a chance, not a certainty.
This piece, ‘Now here, now what?’ tries to capture that sense of nothingness that we are sent into but with the Holy Spirit singing alongside us. Harmonising breathly.
It’s encouraging when you share your ‘refining’ experience so openly. i’d such a time, when i’d finished college and was totally convinced starting a new organisation for youth was what i was destined for. and, WHAMM! All of it went for a toss. it simply wasn’t God’s plan, apparently. today i am at peace where he has placed me. yet, the ‘time and again’ aspect of this refining experience Is a little scary . . . Yet, i will praise him (along with Habakkuk)!