Hello,
“How long until we get there?” From the back seat of the our ’63 Chevy station wagon I repeatedly asked my parents as we traveled across Illinois, Iowa and into Nebraska in the pre-Interstate days to visit my Grandparents. Even though such unwanted answers like, “Four or five more hours,” stung my ears and my patience, it was far better to hear that answer than, “I don’t know. It’s going to be a while.”
I don’t know why, but having some idea of the duration of the journey provides some level of solace. Maybe the solace comes from being able to measure one’s patience against the amount of boredom that lies ahead. But when the answer is “a while”, there is a looming fear that the journey’s length might be more than our restlessness can handle.
As I see things, I think this is the very problem that we are facing today on our Covid19 journey. How long until we can see our friends again? How long until we can enjoy a meal at our favorite haunt? How long until we can visit a aging loved one? How long until we can go to a baseball game, or gather at church? “How long until we get there?”
The answer that we get is not the answer that we want. “I don’t know. It’s going to be a while.”
We are not the first to get this answer. Over and over again in the Bible the people want to know, “How long?” How long will we suffer? How long that you turn your face from us? How long until we see your promises? How long until your kingdom comes? How long?
And the answer that always come to these questions is, “It is going to be a while?” Never a specific date. Never a specific time. (I know that there are some who look to some books of the Bible and believe that specific answers are there….personally, and in the eyes of many scholars, even those books are not meant to give specific answers.) “It is going to be a while.”
Listen to this verse from the book of Isaiah.
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless. 30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted; 31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless. 30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted; 31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Notice, the answer that comes from scripture is not an answer that allows us to measure the journey’s length against our strength. The answer that Scripture gives turns our eyes to measure the journey’s length against the LORD’s strength. And measuring the journey’s length against the LORD’s strength, there is an answer that gives us true solace….solace that we can build our lives on, solace on which we can build our patience. Looking at our strength always puts the arrival of our trek’s end in jeopardy. Looking at the LORD’s strength always puts our arrival at the trek’s end in certainty!
“How long until we get there?” we ask the LORD.
“Trust me,” says the LORD, “We WILL get there!”
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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