Caught in the middle
I have found myself a number of times in life feeling like I was in a position I didn’t want to be in. And I can get frustrated and discouraged, and even at times resentful, that I am in it, when I feel like I worked hard to not end up there. I tried to do what I saw as the right thing, to do what I could to make sure all was understood, and yet it seems, in the end, that it was nothing more than a sodding great waste of time and energy. So another one of Paul Tripp’s meditations I liked was this one, called ‘caught in the middle’, though it’s really about waiting, and one doesn’t necessarily have to be caught in the middle of something for it to be relevant. It’s based on Psalm 27:14.
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong, and let your heart take courage;
Wait for the LORD!
When you are required to wait, it means that you are caught in the middle of something, and when you are caught in the middle of something, it immediately means that you are part of something bigger than you. Being caught in the middle is disconcerting and irritating because we all tend to give in to the delusion that we have more power and control over our lives than we actually have.
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When you recognize that you are caught in the middle of something, you are recognizing something that is profoundly important …
First, it means you were meant to live for something bigger than yourself. You are not in control. Your story is not ultimate. You have been created to be part of something that is larger than your wants, your needs, and your feelings. You are connected to something that is bigger than your relationships, your situations, and the locations that you move in every day. You are waiting, because God said you are part of his kingdom. God, whose timing is always perfect, works according to his wise plan and at the right moment. But as you wait, he is doing something in and for you. He is crafting you into the person his grace alone enables you to be.
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Fourth, it means the final chapter of your story has been written but has not yet unfolded. There are more places God has written for me. There are more characters to appear in my story. There are circumstances that he has designed for me to encounter. There are moments of blessing and times of difficulty that have already been written into my story by the One who is not only in control but is also wise, gracious, kind and good. He already knows the exact path he will cause me to walk and how that path will result in his glory and my good. I could never write an autobiography that would accomplish what his story for me already has and will accomplish.
Fifth, it means that the One you are waiting for is trustworthy. I know there are times when waiting is painful. I know there are times when it seems as if it is impossible to wait. But you and I must remind ourselves that we wait not because irrational and impersonal forces function as obstructions and interferences in our lives. No, we wait because the world is carefully administered by the one Person who is ultimate in power, ultimate in authority, and ultimate in wisdom, while at the very same time being ultimate in love. You are being asked to wait by One you can trust.
Sixth, it means that in those moments when you are caught, you can rest. Don’t give way to panic. Don’t give in to doubt because this is not what you would have planned. Don’t allow yourself to play out all the “what if’s” and “if only’s” in your mind. You are waiting because there is a plan. You are waiting because your life is under the control of One who is wise and good. You can rest, not because you know what is happening, but because you know the One who is in control of what is happening to you right now. You can rest because you know he has made you a part of something wonderful, and he knows what he is doing in you is good, even though at this moment it feels as if you have been caught in the middle.