What to do when you find yourself stuck in the land of between
By Dean Collins
I finally realized when and where I have my biggest challenges. They all happen in the land of between. But it’s in that same land that I experience my greatest joys, satisfaction, and victory.
Here’s an example. Your business has a fiscal year-end, the day you complete your financial activities for the preceding twelve months. Financial statements document the year’s business, and auditors review all transactions so results can be reported to investors and various compliance entities including government agencies and regulatory or accreditation groups for your industry. But the minute you end one fiscal year, you are in the next one. You might have satisfaction or concerns based on the fiscal year-end results, but you can’t celebrate or commiserate for long, because the next fiscal year has already begun.
Or think about the space between awake and sleep. If you’re like me, all your challenges happen between being fully awake and sound asleep. These are the times when we fret about relationship challenges and health concerns. These are the moments when we have lots of mental meetings about plans for the next initiative or problem. Even in bed, we dwell between this and that.
Surviving and thriving
I discovered a secret this morning that will help us survive and even thrive in the land of between. It’s found in a prayer of King Asa between the time he learned he had a big problem heading his way and when it resolved. Asa took over as king of Judah after his father’s short tenure. And although his dad, Abijah, had a rough three years as king, now Asa was doing well. Chronicles reports that Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord. Good things happen when you do what God deems right and good. But it doesn’t guarantee that trouble won’t be right around the corner in the land of between.
After diligent work over several years of cleaning out idols and worship practices of foreign gods, Asa fortified Judah with a significant rebuilding campaign to strengthen the community. He recruited and trained an army of 580,000 and equipped them with shields and spears and bows. Things were going well until King Asa got the news that Zerah the Ethiopian had an army of a million soldiers plus 300 chariots. Suddenly the land of between had concerns. The odds of making it successfully through a battle where the enemy has a two-to-one advantage plus better weapons aren’t very good.
Getting help
So here is what Asa did to manage in the moment. It’s a good thing for you and me to do as well. Asa prayed. Actually, his prayer was not a gentle, little, silent prayer, he bellowed out his cry to the Lord: “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak.”
Asa knew what we sometimes forget; there is no one better to help us than our Heavenly Father and Almighty God. And he does his best work “between the mighty and the weak”! I don’t know about you, but I am usually feeling rather weak in times of great challenge. Some formidable enemy or situation has emerged, and as I anticipate the battle or solution, I often am fully aware of my weaknesses and inadequacy to solve the problem or fight the enemy. But this powerful little prayer reminds us that no one is better than God when we are between our weakness and any opponent or problem. Almighty God is better than any strategy or person on our team.
So Asa continued his prayer: “We rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”
Fighting the battle
When we are between a rock and a hard place, we can rely on God not only for strength but for victory. Make sure you notice the last part of the prayer. When the battle happens, it’s God against the foe, not us against the foe. God revealed to Asa what the apostle Paul would later teach us. We are to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, because while our battles may look like human battles, they’re actually spiritual battles being worked out in Heavenly spaces while we live in the land between here and eternity.
Here in the land of between, we must never forget that the Kingdom Jesus established has no end. He will bring all enemies into submission. There will often be troubles and challenges in this world, but we can be of good cheer because we know that King Jesus will never allow his Kingdom to fail. And he is working his plan in each of our lives while we live here in our temporary bodies and in the land of between.
So next time you’re anxious about what’s ahead, cry out to the Lord. There is no one better than King Jesus when we feel stuck between problems and the reality of our weakness. Go ahead and rest in your weakness. God will take care of it. You can rely on him!
Your time with God’s Word
2 Chronicles 14: 2, 11; Ephesians 6:10, 12-13, 18; Luke 1:32-33 ESV
Photo by Joyce Dias from Pexels
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