What even is the “in between?”

The in between, my least favorite thing of all time, well maybe not my least favorite but it’s definitely not a favorite.

Hi friends, back here with you on this rainy Friday morning, waiting on the Lord to do abundantly more than I could ever imagine because He’s him and that’s His promise. (Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us- Ephesians 3:20)

I believe that, do you? Do you believe the Lord can and will do more than we think He can? do we believe that He is far more than capable?

The in between is where I sit right now, and maybe you are sitting there too. The in between is what I also call the waiting stage. We wait, we wait for graduation, we wait for a job, we wait for a spouse or baby, we wait for the restoration of that relationship, we wait for all kinds of things. We wait, in the in between- or the stage where you’re “in between two things.” If you’re me, you were in between school and graduating and now you’re in between graduation and an adult job, terrifying, right? Or maybe for you you’re in between high school and college, between dating and engaged, or engaged and married, maybe you’re in between conflict and healing in that relationship. Whatever your in between is, the in between makes you feel really blah. If you’re like me, it makes me sad, frustrated, angry, irritated, sometimes hopeful, sometimes intrigued at what comes next, but more often sad and fearful. I fear that whatever comes next isn’t going to be as “good” to me as what was before. But what if it’s better, friends?

If you’ve talked to me a lot this in between season, it’s been a hard one. It’s been rocky, bumpy, there has been one life change after another, and boy did it completely toss me out of the boat and into the waves- but as crazy as it sounds what if that’s exactly where you and i wanna be? The more I sit in the in between seasons, especially in the really hard ones, the more I love them. (You can call me crazy, bc it kinda makes me feel it).

Stay with me friends, the in between is where there is the most doubt, probably the most pain, the biggest need for healing or restoration, the in between is where we need Jesus to come and do what only He can, and He does, every single time. It just doesn’t always look like what we wanted.

At the beginning of this semester, I wanted nothing more than to stay in Knoxville, with my people I love, I knew I was in between moves to a new city, a city that brought so much pain to my life before. Leaving my people was hard, moving was hard, making new friends was hard, moving churches was hard, it was all hard, so why did the Lord send me into the in between? to help me see my great need to trust His voice, to trust what He says entirely.

This in between has looked like losing people that are so dear to my heart (talk about tears), it’s looked like sadness, loneliness, reaching out to make new friends, putting myself right in the middle of the in between and growing in it.

I’m not the same person because of the in between, and even now as I sit in the in between of graduation and a career, I’m still not the same. He has done abundantly more than I’d ever expect in Murfreesboro, even if I couldn’t always see it, and I trust He’s still doing abundantly more. So maybe the in between isn’t so bad? Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck, that it doesn’t hurt or cause tears, just means maybe we can understand that we can’t see hindsight, so maybe the in between is teaching us, showing us our great need for Jesus. Maybe the in between is shaping us to look more like Him and love more like Him.

The in between has taught me how I was insufficient before and where I need to grow, the in between has taught me that maybe I believe Jesus in my head but I don’t always believe in my heart, the in between has taught me that He can give and take away and it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, He could just be working what is best for us. The in between has a lot of lessons, even if those are hard to swallow lessons.

So, will you believe with me that in the in between the Lord is doing abundantly more than we’d ever imagine? (Ephesians 3:20 right?) that He is far more capable of knowing what we need, and that in the tears, as cliche as it is, He didn’t go anywhere.

Let’s believe that in my in between, with no job or a promise of one right now, that I. Your in between, whatever that looks like, that He’s working, in ways He needs, for His glory and our good, friends.

Love you guys, praying with you this morning!

Until next time.