As we say goodbye to 2020 and face 2021 there’s much to grieve and to give thanks for. When I consider where we have been and where we might be headed as a world, nation, and church, the biblical idea of wilderness helps me make sense of things. Wilderness throughout scripture is both that place of desolation and divine intervention. As we face what many have labeled as ‘a wilderness time in our country,’ let me say to you, don’t lose heart! Remember, God is a wilderness God and God delights in making a way in the wilderness. Those two truths fire our hope and direct our steps for the year ahead. Our present challenges are not insurmountable because nothing is impossible for God. In fact, looking at Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection, we see that God does God’s best work in the wilderness! God has a way forward for us collectively and as individuals right through this present wilderness, accumulating as we travel with God, the faith and joy that is our inheritance.
Happy New Year!
“Behold, I am doing a new thing, now it springs up, Can’t you see it? I put a way in the wilderness.”