Working in the Wondering

As we wrap up 2020, we can't help but wonder what 2021 is going to look like. Will some normalcy return? Will we get to have birthday parties and blow out candles? Will we get to do anything that involves a crowd of any sort like go to a movie or a concert?

What I wonder though too is what are the parts of 2020 life that you don't want to end? With all of the changes this year has brought, have some of them been good?

I can't help but appreciate some results 2020 life has brought. In the beginning of quarantine in March, I almost felt a little guilty. I had packed my life with such a lengthy to-do list that I was begging for a slow down. My calendar was literally scheduled down to the minute. A schedule that just is not sustainable. So when the salon closed and I couldn't go to work, along with the stress also came relief. Finally, I get a break! This is what I had prayed for, in an indirect way. I would bet that I am not the only person who felt some relief that there was less commitments on the calendar. Will we be able to find the happy medium between a schedule too packed to enjoy and one that is totally clear? My hope is that when the chaos clears, we have learned a thing or two. We can adapt, learn from the difficulties but hold tight to the unexpected blessings.

I just wonder what God is working on. What is happening behind the scenes? This makes me think of Luke 24 when the women went to Jesus' tomb and found it to be empty. They had followed Joseph to the tomb when he laid Jesus' body in it. The women witnessed his body being laid to rest in the tomb, they literally saw the event with their own eyes. Yet when they came back, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. Can you imagine what the women were wondering? Where did Jesus' body go? What happened in between the time they left the tomb to the time they came back? God was working while the women were wondering. He sent two angels to reveal what had happened. The angels asked the women why they were looking in a tomb for someone who was alive... And then comes the most important moment in all of time.

As we wonder what the next year will hold, imagine there is a possibility that something great can come from the uncertainty. I'm sure the women had no idea how great the near future would be when they were standing in that empty tomb.

So as you contemplate what the next year will hold, don't forget what the last year has taught. Just maybe what seemed like the most stressful year ever, will turn into something unexpectedly beautiful .