Every day, it seems, our minds want to lead us into the wilderness, a place in Scripture that is portrayed as a dry and barren wasteland. It is the place that the Scapegoat, Jesus Christ, was led into for 40 days and nights. It is the place of temptation and confusion and desolation.
If I have learned one thing over the past few years it is this: We must renew our minds (Romans 12) and be transformed spiritually. We cannot settle for the wastelands, but instead must ask God to renew our minds and, in turn, our spirits and our lives.
I get discouraged sometimes as I think about the moral course of our nation and even the Church (my denomination, anyways). It is disheartening to read how the Supreme Court's is going to decide on federal court rulings in San Francisco concerning gay marriage, because I know how decisions have been trending lately. I grow frustrated when I read about how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s ecclesial courts turn a blind eye to pastors who are blatantly violating our church's constitution.
Things appear to be careening into the wastelands, at times, particularly in what we teach about the definition of marriage and all things "family." I feel at times like there is no redeeming it, that God has withdrawn his hand. My defeatist attitudes steer me into the same wastelands. And then I remember the unique place I am in to teach and preach the Scriptures and God's Word.
Each of us is in a position to follow God's plan for our lives. If we are living and breathing, then God can use us. I prefer to stand alongside others, because I know I cannot do it alone, but I am still here. You are still here. We are still able to seek renewal and not cross over into the wastelands.
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