Cindy Powell

Maybe it’s because I’m a middle child.

I seem to live a lot of my life in the middle. I live a lot in transition…in process…

In between

In between actual changes in circumstances and assignments…in between hope and current realities… in between dreams and disappointments…in between contentment and contending…in between opposing truths…in between various sides of issues…

In between heaven and earth.

Really, I’m living in between the now and the not yet.

The in between is a real deal for all of us. It is finished...

But it isn’t yet finished in us.

At least not in a way that we’re all consistently walking out. Not by a long shot.

Let’s face it, wherever your middle may be, it’s a messy place. Nothing in the middle is neat and tidy. The middle is wishy-washy. It’s fickle. It’s a place where you’re not where you were, but you’re also not yet where you’ll be. You’re floating somewhere in between..somewhere on the journey…

Somewhere in the messy middle.

But there are some really good things about being in the middle. If you’re there, it means you’ve been moving. It means you didn’t stay stuck on the other side. You didn’t stay stuck where you always were or in what always was. You were willing to let go. You were willing to move on. And that’s a good thing…

Because movement means life.

Only living things move. Dead things are never in the messy middle because they stop moving. They stop learning. They stop growing. They find a plot of ground, and stay stuck there forever.

So if you’re in the messy middle–congratulations–you’re alive. Even if it doesn’t always feel like the life you envisioned. Even if, sometimes, it feels lonely, and cold, and oh so foggy and gray. You’re still breathing. You’re still moving. You’re still moving with him.

The middle doesn’t scare or repel him. Even darkness is as light to him. He never loses sight of you. Nothing moves him from your side. When you’re unsure, he remains sure. When everything changes, he remains the same. He is always there with you…

Even in the middle.

God is the Alpha and the Omega, but did you know he is also everything in between?

He is in the messy middle. 

When he takes us from strength to strength, he isn’t just our strength…

He is also the “to” in between.

He is in the process.

He is in my process. (And yours.)

In fact, God loves the process. He loves being with us in the process–anytime, anywhere.

So I’m letting him meet me here–in the messy middle. I’m letting him meet me here just as I am. No pretense. No man-made spiffed up fake spaces that are too small to contain him. No fake super-duper faith.  Just simple trust in a very real God who meets me in a very real place…

The messy middle. 

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. -Ps. 84:5-7

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Things flowed a little differently this time.  I had scribbled out some starting thoughts that were on my heart the week before but Aeron and I weren’t able to connect. By the time we did, I wasn’t feeling it. So I scrapped the intended starting point and started praying–really from a place of my own deep need rather than from a place of having something to give. Aeron immediately started to draw something, but as we prayed, he switched gears too and completely started over. I wrote this after the fact based on the things we prayed. We both gave ourselves freedom to let the Spirit lead and simply be where we were even if it was uncomfortable and lacking in clarity. I kind of think Jesus likes that place 🙂

Artwork by Aeron Brown. Spontaneous devotions are just that – a spontaneous collaborative expression of worship. I read scripture and/or some devotional thoughts, then pray into those those thoughts while Aeron draws. For others click here.