What is there not to understand?

The insistent question of young children when going on a road trip and tagging along with the latest crazy idea of their parents. 

“Are we there yet?”

As parents who know the destination, time, and distance this question becomes an annoyance rather quickly. 

This is similar to the season we find ourselves today. 

Eleven months into a post-Covid era. A season that we know in our heads that brighter days are on the horizon, but still feel seemingly at a standstill until we arrive at whatever may be next.

A common question spoken or unspoken right now is…

“When will this be over?” 

This territory that we are unsure how to define is a place of betweens. Something is gone, but the new has not arrived. It’s what Andrew Peterson describes in his song “Far Country” when we ache for what is lost but are in the wilderness. This is the place that God does His best work in and through His people if we are open to Spirit leading us. 

This is the area that Jesus was pointing to over and over to his early disciples with the question, “Do you still not understand?” Mark 8:16-21

In this season of confusion, pain, anxiety, depression, anger, bitterness, and loneliness, can be real. It is the season of winter. It is a season to name what you are experiencing and allow God to do His best work through you. The season of planting seeds for a garden that will come. 

“Are we there yet?” 

Depends on where you are looking. (For the punchline read Mark 8:22-26)

The Serenity Prayer is a welcome invitation in this season:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”