by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Trusting God in the in Between Times

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I’m re-walking my steps from last year’s photo project (1 Camera, 1 Lens, 1 Film, 1 Block) only this time I’m shooting with color film, not black and white.

Just two months into this project and I’m already struck by the reality that we’re not where we were a year ago and we’re not where we will be next year.

This is the in between year. When we aren’t what we were and haven’t arrived at what we’ll be, we want to do one of two things; go back to what we were or move quickly to the next stage. Both are impossible. The pandemic has changed us to such an extent that we cannot re-create the past. Neither do we have a clear picture of what the future will look like.

The question for us now is, how do we thrive in the in between time?

“Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion; it cannot be upended and will endure forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, now and forevermore.”
Psalm 125:1-2 New English Translation 

The Jews sang these words on their way to the temple in Jerusalem for worship. It’s called a Psalm of Ascent. Jesus and his disciples might have sung this psalm on those occasions when they traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem for worship. This psalm was sung even when Israel experienced an in between time.

These words give us hope when we aren’t what we used to be and we don’t know what’s next for us. We are called to trust in our unchangeable God. He cannot be moved. His love will sustain us even when the ground appears to be moving underneath us.

As we look back to where we were and forward to what’s coming, may we hold on to the reality that even in the in between times, God can be trusted. He will not move.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado