“When the Israelites saw the king coming with his army, they were frightened and begged the Lord for help. They also complained to Moses, “Wasn’t there enough room in Egypt to bury us? Is that why you brought us out here to die in the desert? Why did you bring us out of Egypt anyway? While we were there, didn’t we tell you to leave us alone? We had rather be slaves in Egypt than die in this desert!” (Exodus 14:10-12 CEV)
A family just experienced a blessing, a vacation, a temporary blessing, perhaps. They are traveling on their way home, another blessing, a more lasting blessing characterized typically by the saying, “There is no place like home.” Yet, in what I will refer to as “the in between” time, confinement in the same space, in the car, it is filled with murmuring, complaining, provoking, and even irritating behaviors directed at the most vulnerable in the vehicle. Some lose sight that they are traveling to a more permanent blessing.
Even though I am retired, can I be pastoral for a moment? Will you give me your permission? Thank you, if you said, “Yes.” As we travel through this 2026 crisis, and yes I said travel through, we are in “the in between time.” We have overlooked the blessings behind us, and we are traveling to the blessing in front of us. So being cognizant of the “in between” time, we cannot be like the children of Israel, nor can we be like the family traveling back from vacation. We need to cognitively focus on not letting the frustrations, stress, and tensions that often show up in the “in between time” control our interactions and conquer our faith. Avoid all that by trusting in God. Know that we must travel through “the in between time,” being readied by our experiences for future crisis and challenges and see the blessings that await us. In the ultimate sense believers, we are like the sons and daughters of Israel because we have a Promised Land to look forward to where the blessings of eternity await us and no one will argue with the fact that there is no place like home at that time. So, from a short-range perspective and a longer-range perspective, keep the faith, live your faith, and look with great anticipation and expectation, knowing that “the in between time” is only a path to brighter days filled with blessings! Be blessed!
“We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broke.” (2 Corinthians 8-9 MSG)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King