Meeting Moments

By: Linda Grabeman

Found. It means not lost. For this girl who gets directionally turned around regularly, my goal is the same:  Don’t get lost. In my last mishap I went for a walk and ended up trudging nearly seven miles.

All alone, in a city I had never visited before. When I finally limped back to my hotel, weary but relieved, someone suggested I take a bag of crumbs whenever I walk, like Hansel and Gretel. I may do that.

The word found also means formed, begun, settled, established. I need this kind of finding just as regularly, for all my frantic moments, my obsessive tendencies, my distractions from my set goals and desired focus. A new year reminds us again of the true miracle of grace, that the Eternal continues to break into our chaos, all those places where we miss the mark.

Let’s call them Meeting Moments because our God is a come-down-to-meet-us God… right where we are, bringing us from lost to found, from unsettled to established, from frantic to composed.

Does this not thrill your heart? It does mine because I’m not talking about a dribbling, skimpy splash of grace, mercy, and peace. Oh, no! We’re talking walloping servings slathered on us by an extravagantly loving Father.

As we take those first steps into this new year with all its uncertainties, how reassuring to remember that our God understands every one of our misunderstandings.

He knows each of our untaken steps already, has seen our upcoming wrong turns and yes, even our deliberate detours. His love remains unchanged.

This wandering, this confusion, and the regular, rhythmic need to be found and untangled is universal. We may stay on track for a while, but it is the nature of this world and of our humanity to get side-tracked, in need of these meeting moments which find us, fill us, calm us.

I found my way on my seven-mile unexpected jaunt when I called a friend. As the cars whizzed past me I felt horribly alone, afraid, and far away from where I was supposed to be. But her calm reasoning turned me around, got me going the right way. “Turn on the GPS on your phone”, were her instructions.  Duh! Not a difficult assignment unless you are stranded and struggling to keep your wits about you.

Aaaahhh, finally, some direction. Just knowing how to get back to that place where you got lost. I was still miles away from my destination, but I knew the way home.

I will certainly get lost again. My geographical compass remains challenged. But here is my encouragement for myself, for all of us in this new year: Wherever we get caught up, tied up, or dragged down, our faithful Father is waiting to meet us there, to set our compass straight, and empower us to go the right way. With that assurance, it will be a very good year, regardless of its difficulties and turnarounds. How faithful is our God?

 

 

 

 

 

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