Complaint, Trust and Joy in the Land Between

Strip me naked and leave me alone in a room and I will still have more than I deserve.

Interesting statement, isn’t it? Makes you wonder who would say something like that. Several years ago, a friend dropped this line on me. We had bumped into each other at a mall. Our wives were at a ladies retreat and each of us was trying to entertain our kids that evening at the mall. I knew that he just received the news that his wife had a slow progressing, debilitating disease that could, over time, drastically affect their lives. They were entering into a time of waiting to see what this disease would truly do to her and their way of life. As we chatted about the details of their new situation, I felt compelled to ask him how he, as dad and husband, was doing personally with this news. Putting myself in his shoes, I could only imagine the thoughts and emotions that invaded his mind and heart. Would he be filled with worry, disappointment, distress, confusion, complaint, denial, or anger? I’m sure that each of these tempted his private moments, but I knew him well enough to know that he would pursue another way to respond.

Strip me naked and leave me alone in a room and I will still have more than I deserve.

That’s all he said about it and his cryptic answer left me hanging. It caught me by surprise and I didn’t have the courage at the time to ask him what he truly meant. But it captivated my thoughts for days. What was he saying to me about his perspective on his new circumstance in life? After reflecting on my friend and his approach to life, I think he was saying these things:

If life takes everything away me, God is still good.
Anything that I have ever enjoyed, including my wonderful wife, I didn’t really deserve.
She’s an undeserved gift.
She’ll continue to be a wonderful gift to me despite her disease.
This is not a setback but an opportunity to experience God and life more fully.
I could choose to complain in this situation but I’m choosing joy instead.
I’d rather encourage you, today, than ask you to commiserate with me.

In the moment that my friends heard that a disease would affect their lives, they entered into the land between; a place of wondering about the future, a place of waiting to learn the outcome of the news, a place of adjusting to their changing reality. But, the land between is a place of choice where two conflicting options of response face off: complaint and joy.

This month, Jeff is teaching on the Land Between that God asked the Israelites to walk through on the way to the promise land. Let's create a discussion on your Land Between. Is complaint sneaking into your heart? Who hears your complaint? Could choosing trust or joy be a remedy for you in this season of life?