There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD. (Proverbs 21:30-31, NIV)
It is wintertime here in Oklahoma and it has been cold. While we have not had good weather to play golf, it is a good time to prepare for the new season. I am trying to read instructive books and practice indoors a little, as well as doing the fitness things that will help me be stronger in the spring when I can play again. I am in the preparation phase of my season. I can’t wait to get back outside and actually play again.
As I look back at this past year, it seems as if all of us have been in a very long season of preparation as we wait for the spring of having a more normal life to return. Limited in our more normal uses of time, we find ourselves in a season of alone time—more than we ever thought possible. We might manage a video meeting once in a while, but we have not been able to hug and kiss many of the most important people in our life for what seems like a very long time. We have also been limited in our avenues for church and fellowship with other believers.
Honestly, this season has been lonely for me, but it is my reality for now. Those of you with a family living in close quarters, maybe homeschooling your children, might wish for more time to be alone, but that doesn’t change the overlying feeling of isolation. Our friends and extended family aren’t where we’re used to having them: close.
We will undoubtably need everything that this cold, dark winter has allowed us to learn.But there is another way to see this season. It is rare in a believer’s life to find this kind of opportunity for solitude and separation. This time has been the rarest of exceptions to the usual pace of our lives. There has to be an eternal purpose behind it. I believe with all my heart that God is trying to get our attention turned away from the call of the world to a quieter, more contemplative pattern of living. I think we have all learned that we can live life more slowly and that those we love are more important that we ever thought possible. This reordering of our priorities fits in with God’s plan for us to seek him first and to leave the details of our life in his hands. We are being taught about our true need for God’s mercy in our life. He is making his presence known in an unusual and powerful way as the traditions and patterns we have always known are pulled out from under us.
We don’t know what we will need to help us cope in a new and different world, but we can know for sure that God does. He has granted us this gift of time and solitude to do a work in us. We will undoubtably need everything that this cold, dark winter has allowed us to learn.
In the same way that we prepare in winter for the new golf season, we should redeem this troubled time to allow God to prepare us for the season to come. We should read our instruction book (the Bible), we should practice being in God’s presence in a personal way through prayer and praise, and we should allow this testing time to strengthen our spiritual muscles so we will be ready when the time comes. We are being prepared for battle. No wisdom, no insight, no plan can succeed against him, and we are going to be on the front lines with him. That is our blessed hope. Let’s not waste a minute of the time that God has given us to prepare for what is to come.
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Linda Ballard
February 4, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.