clarity in the middle

At IHOP, we pray through Ephesians 1:15-20 what seems like 10 times daily. Still, it's interesting what jumps out at you. It's as if this book were alive....

Tripping Point of the Day for me is verse 18, where it says "...in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you.". When I read that this morning, the first thought that popped into my head was "If I really knew the hope that He's called me to, I could endure anything....".

There's a phrase sung around here a lot. It goes "He sees the end from the beginning....". It's a powerful lyric and even more profound reality, but to be honest, sometimes I don't have a lot of trouble seeing the end from the beginning. Beginnings are exciting. The beginning of a venture is full of potential and enthusiasm. We only start journeys because we believe we can complete them. The launching pad is a place of great energy, noise and shaking. Last time I looked, there were a lot of people on the launching pad, and most of them were jazzed to be there.

It's the middle where I get muddled.

The middle of a venture is where fatigue, negative experiences and the sense of the mundane all conspire to slow me down...to lead me to disengage and disconnect from the reason I started. The same rocket that shook and belched fire at Cape Canaveral feels like it's going nowhere when it's halfway to it's orbit. The profound sense of distance from the beginning and the end lead me to a perception of motionlessness. I'm going 1200 miles an hour, but am I going anywhere?

God doesn't just see the end from the beginning. He sees it from the middle. He sees beyond the horizon in both directions and straight down through the fog to where I am. Clarity is His forte....and His gift to us.

I want to latch on to that hope this morning....the hope He's called me to. The glimpse I had of it at the beginning is not enough to sustain me on the journey. It's got to be real today.