Lost in Transition...
[posted July 16, 2007 • 7:13AM • Bill Gibson]

Yo! I hope that I am getting back on track. I feel like I have been derailed and lost for a couple of weeks. Discombobulated may be more accurate.

We've been moving.

And moving.

Yes... moving.

And for almost a week, I (we) had an overlapping disconnect of services — cable TV, telephone, Internet/Email, and mobile phone. As someone who was on the verge of entering a 12-step program for addiction to communication overload (compliments of a BlackBerry), I found myself in serious withdrawal!

I was lost in transition. Lost between where I was and where I was going.

Yet after a few days, the annoying ringing in my ears went away and my symptoms of withdrawal started to turn into a new appreciation for the benefits of being lost. Benefits like fewer phone calls and emails. If someone really needed me, they would have to catch up with me like in the old days — saddle up their horse and ride across the vast prairie (or get in their vehicle and drive down the road...).

I began to really appreciate this new experience, as the withdrawal began to subside. It was peaceful. I was able to think clearly. Probably the clearest thinking I've done in a while.

Funny how things work. Heck, it is funny how God works. Too often we are so busy in our daily existence that we can't even see how we fit into the overall equation. We are looking at things through a different lens and all we can see, hear, and feel is, "Git 'er done!" So that's what we are constantly trying to do. Like a dog chasing its tail.

But being lost has its perks. And the #1 is REST! Now, I am not talking about physical rest, because I can't remember feeling this tired this many days in a row. There is nothing "restful" about MOVING!

I hate moving.

Anyway... The "rest" I am referring to is a mental, emotional, and spiritual rest.

Yep. Being lost has had its privileges.

When we are hungry we eat. When we are tired we sleep. When we are bored we seek entertainment. So why is it that when we are drained emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, in most cases we just let the stress build up and take years off of our lives?

Jesus rested. Though His ministry only lasted 3 short years, he continually retreated in order to be recharged and filled. It makes perfect sense, as we have already pointed out — when we are hungry, we eat, etc... But when we are drained, we don't always do a great job of allowing ourselves to be replenished. Is it because we may look upon the need for emotional, mental, and spiritual rest as a weakness?

Yet Jesus rested. If anyone in His day was in high demand, stirred up more controversy, and met the needs of the people — like a shepherd to sheep — it was Jesus. Everyone wanted a piece of Him, and everyone had different motives and agendas. High stress? I think so, even for the Son of God. Remember, Jesus was both fully Divine and fully human... He felt pain, and understood the tension of the flesh.

And still, Jesus says, "Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile." Check out Mark 6:30-32.

I hate moving. But, being lost in transition was a valuable reminder that I was not allowing myself enough time to replenish — REST.

I believe Jesus wants us to "Get lost!" every now and then. I hope you get lost soon, so that you can find out where you are going. Being discombobulated can have its privileges.