Betwixt and Between
Dear #PrisonersOfHope
In my first year at varsity, I studied Anthropology as an ancillary. Honestly, when I registered for the course, I did not know what it was all about. I would later fall in love with the course. In simple terms, Anthropology is the study of what makes us human.
It was during this time where I learned the concept called “liminality” which means “threshold”. Liminality is the in-between state, when you are neither here nor there: When you are officially in limbo. Significant transitions in life involve this experience. This experience brings chaos and confusion in our lives. During this time we try to resolve our problems and we fail. The reason being, the rules of what you have known don’t apply anymore. It is a time of great transformation which requires death; death of the old you, so that you can become something new. The status quo is destroyed to make room for something different, something new. Prophet Isaiah says, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.” Isaiah 40 v 4 NKJV.
The concept is about learning to live with pain of waiting. Yes, waiting. Waiting for change. As prisoners of hope, we are always challenging ourselves that our present situation will soon be our past. I love this quote by Jeff Goins, “Life is waiting. Not just waiting in line at the grocery store or waiting to renew your driver’s license, but waiting to love and commit and find the work you were meant to do. Our lives are full of inconvenient setbacks, not due to some great cosmic mistakes but because of some divine purpose we don’t comprehend. In waiting, we become.”
After reading this I started to wonder, “Could it be that God allow seasons of waiting in our lives in order to birth purpose?”
As I was navigating through the betwixt and between space in my own life, I found a song that expressed exactly where I was. From Juanita Bynum’s album ‘A Piece of My Passion,’ there is a song titled ‘I Don’t Mind Waiting.’ The lyrics are as follows:
“You know, sometimes in life situations are going to occur,
Where you may look to the left or the right,
And you can’t find any answers,
And you can’t find anybody to help you.
But I am reminded of the Word that says,
They that wait upon the Lord,
He shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up on wings as eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint,
Come on,
You’ve got to learn how to wait.”
Are you currently going through a liminal experience? Remember, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him’ John 3 v 17. Similarly God does not allow this season into our lives in order to punish or destroy us but to free us from the snares that would stop us from obtaining the promises He made to us. At the end we will be transformed into new creations empowered by His Strength and Grace.
Signed: #RestoredMe