Moments in the Middle

Have you ever been in the middle of something? The middle of something usually alludes to the space between the beginning and end. When you begin something, there is usually excitement attached to it. This excitement, whether it be for a dream or a new season, is motivating. There is a drive or a passion associated with it. The middle though—the middle is where the rubber meets the road.

Not too long ago I was on a long walk. I was enjoying a good audiobook and the nice cool weather when I didn’t realize how far I had gone. Once I had reached a certain distance, I was ready to be done—but I had to turn around to walk the same distance home. In the flesh, I was finished but actually, I was right in the middle.

Do you ever feel this way spiritually? You are pressing forward and then all of a sudden you are ready to be finished. Maybe you started something in the flesh that God wanted you to wait on. Maybe life has you in the midst of a journey that you are ready to be finished with, but you’re seemingly far from the finish line. Whatever your situation is, be encouraged that God is in the middle with you!

In Exodus 3 I think of Moses. Moses had been raised in Pharoah’s house. He had all of the natural credentials to be someone great. Moses’s passion to protect the Israelites pushed him into a space where he acted out in the flesh. He was trying to accomplish something in the natural (by his own strength) that God wanted to happen supernaturally. Moses tried to deliver the Israelites in his own strength and created a mess. Moses had to run for his life. In the middle of a huge mess, a mess that left Moses thinking that his life was over, God was at work. Moses found himself in a land called Midian.

Midian actually means the middle. In Midian, the middle between Moses’s purpose and fulfillment, Moses found a space of growth, healing, blessing, and refuge. In the flesh, Moses thought Midian was the end of his purpose, but it was actually the launch of it. When Moses was ready to be finished, God was just getting ready to start. It was in Midian where Moses encountered God at the burning bush. It is in Midian, the middle, where Moses received his calling and found his true identity. The middle is where Moses connected to his purpose.

Today, if you find yourself in the space between your promise and its fulfillment, be encouraged that God is a God of the middle. In your discomfort, He is refining you. In difficult moments, your faith is being strengthened. Persevere. Don’t give up. There is another half of your story to live—and this is the part that gets really good!

Keep going, keep growing, God is at work in the middle of your mess. God is working that mess-- that trial-- into a miracle! Take a few minutes to thank God for being with you, right smack in the middle place. He hasn’t left you or forsaken you; He is at work. The Bible says He is the author and the perfector of our faith. This means that He begins it, and He brings it to completion! So be encouraged wherever life has you, God will meet you in the middle!