Promise in the Wilderness
By Sarah Koch
The year 2020 began as a year full of excitement. A new decade with endless possibilities.
With the changing of the calendar year, resolutions for new and better ensued.
However, something shifted early on which shattered hopes and dreams. What we planned to flourish and harvest, God planned to enrich with depth and strength.
2020 became the year of wilderness – a landscape changing from promised land of opportunity to desert of isolation.
We used our energy to survive and now cling to the reset we hope and pray 2021 provides.
But, what if the calendar year changes and nothing else does?
For many, 2021 has become a beacon of hope. A light at the end of this long tunnel of uncertainty, pain, and heartache dubbed “2020”.
However, I can’t help but ask the question, “What if we are wrong?”
As this season of global pandemic steadily beats on, our posture gets ever closer to reflecting the Israelites wandering the desert.
God brought them out of slavery and oppression with the certain hope of the Promised Land. He guided them by pillars of cloud and fire, giving them clear direction through the vast wilderness. A wilderness that undoubtedly swallowed whole countless others trekking the barren terrain – searching and longing for new beginning and purpose.
Yet, their rejoicing turned to groaning.
Lament became their melody – longing for the slavery and oppression yet again, because in it they had certainty.
We long for certainty, don’t we? Maybe so much so that we trade in the goodness of God amidst the unknown for the less than promised hardship we grip all too tightly.
When we read of Moses and the Israelites, God in His astonishing grace never waivered from His promise. However, in a point of contention between God and the Israelites, His presence was not guaranteed.
In Exodus 33 God said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…but I will not go up among you.”
Moses recognized the great loss in what God said.
“And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” Exodus 33:15
Moses knew the power of presence.
He carried the promise but never held it above the presence of God.
May we pray to carry the same posture, so that even if 2021 does not bring the change we hope for, we don’t strive for our idea of goodness without the presence of God.
May we walk with open hands in the presence of God, allowing Him to transform the deep heart spaces of ache and sorrow that are in this present wilderness.
For, in this wilderness, springs of mercy flow and true promise is revealed.
Sarah Koch
Sarah Koch is a Content Editor for Indelible Ink Writers. She believes the written word brings life and purpose to one's story and has the power to change the world. Sarah is a military wife and lives in the DC area with her husband and two daughters.