Has your world - as you’ve known it - ever ended, and you stare ahead, stunned, wondering how to move ahead? Dawn Mann Sanders takes us by the hand and leads us to hope.
Elisa
An Invitation from the Barren Wasteland
By Dawn Mann Sanders
Starting is the most daunting part of anything we do, especially after a catastrophic event. I was in a paralyzed state when I realized God was extending an invitation, beckoning me to join him in the creation of a new life—one without my husband, Reggie. I hesitated, paralyzed by the thought of leaving behind everything we’d built together before his sudden death.
You see, Reggie and I found each other later in life. We were both nearing the age of forty. Our paths crossed during a church doctrine class at our place of worship. Having endured our fair share of painful and unproductive relationships, we found joy and hope in one another’s presence.
The connection we forged was a testament to our deep desire for a healthy and loving partnership—the kind we’d always dreamed of. We envisioned growing old together, supporting and cherishing each other every step of the way. But sometimes life takes unexpected turns, and God’s plans don’t align with our own.
Merely two years after we exchanged vows everything changed, unexpectedly altering the trajectory of my life forever. As I grappled with Reggie’s abrupt death, I couldn’t help but wonder what God’s invitation meant. Should I move on and start anew? How could I when everything around me reminded me of Reggie? Wouldn’t it be disrespectful to his memory? How could I possibly fulfill this divine call while remaining true to my promise to stand by his side always? These were just some of the questions that occupied my thoughts as I struggled to make sense of the invitation before me.
But the promise between Reggie and me wasn’t for always, was it? The vow was “until death do us part.” Now, parted by death, God was challenging me to turn away from my past and separate from the glorious gift he’d given me—the love of my life. God was nudging me to turn to the future.
I sensed God’s call, yet when I looked to the future, all I could see were the broken remnants of my current situation. I couldn’t see the path, so I didn’t know which way to go.
Even as I began to dream again, I didn’t understand what to do with the picture forming in my mind. In my mind’s eye, I imagined where I wanted to be juxtaposed with where I was. I saw the barren wasteland I was in next to my new harvest, but I couldn’t see how to get from here to there. Whenever I tried to chart a path forward, I’d trip over the shattered pieces of my life. The confusion of contradictions—wasteland and harvest—left me retreating to the safety of inaction.
I had nothing. Nothing but an invitation.
I was saying, “God you’re not enough.”
An honest observance shows us that’s how we feel sometimes, isn’t it? Because we’ve lost so much, we ache with an ache so intense we miss recognizing what we have.
We have God … the most powerful force in the universe.
God … who’s in the habit of creating something out of nothing. God … who’s had this habit from the beginning.
The Bible introduces us to God as our Creator by declaring he created the heavens and earth, then it proceeds to describe the state of the world before creation. The description in Genesis 1:1-2 opens by revealing that the earth was without form. Before God’s creative touch, the earth wasn’t producing anything or serving any purpose.
God brought order and creation out of chaos in the beginning, and he can do the same in our lives. God can take our unproductive situations and use them to shape us into something magnificent.
So don’t lose hope. As with the creation story, these moments of unproductivity might be the start of something incredible. Keep in mind, the story doesn’t end here. In fact, the absence of productivity you see is a sign it’s just the beginning.
Even in the beginning, when the earth was without form, we read in Genesis 1:2 that the Spirit of God was hovering. God was there at the beginning, in the unproductive, barren, and dark situation. And we know he remains present in our own unproductive, barren, and dark situations today, even though we can’t see him. He’s with us as he invites us to join him in creating our new lives.
Adapted from When Your World Ends by Dawn Mann Sanders. ©2024 by Dawn Mann Sanders. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.
Dawn N. Sanders (MDiv, Bethel Seminary) is an associate minister at First Baptist Church of Glenarden (FBCG), where she serves as the director of the sermon-based life groups ministry. She is the author of When Your World Ends. Her passion is expository teaching and sharing the wonderful insights God has shown her in his Word. She does this through writing weekly discussion guides for the life groups as well as teaching several in-depth Bible studies. Dawn has written and taught extensively on overcoming adversity and creating a new life, both at FBCG and on her personal blog.
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