Last Monday had been a long and exhausting day, so I went for a walk with my daughter and our three dogs along the Osaugie (pronounced O-soggy) Trail in Superior, which featured interesting sites of ships at port, businesses, railways, and wooded areas. As we walked and talked, I noticed that there were buds on all the vegetation – as they were not quite yet with foliage. We needed more rain and warmer weather before we would see leaves and flowers.
My surroundings caused me to take a mental pause and consider our current situation of the “not quite yet” of this pandemic. We are expectant, unsure, excited, anxious, perhaps apathetic, but mostly hopeful as to what will be the next stage.
As we begin making transitions, there is a promise in Habakkuk 2:3 that gives us a framework for our ministry, “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” This is the time to embrace “what could be, what might be, what is about to bloom” mentality as we vision and plan.
This “not quite yet” time is an invitation to each of us, as Christians, to be intentional about how we live and work in this world. May you fully embrace the “not quite yet” as it blooms and grows.
Prayer: God of Possibility, we ask that You open our eyes, hearts, and souls to the “not quite yet.” Help us to vision “as if” not “as is.” Show us the path. Amen.