So I’ve been spending some time rereading Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller. I’m in the middle of a chapter where their van breaks down (yet again) and they are searching for the much needed little piece of plastic to fix their shifter in order to continue their trip. There stand Paul and Don, staring at two vans in a junkyard that are completely picked over, shells of what they used to be. Paul turns to walk away from the vans, without looking for the piece. Don mumbles that they should look, Paul says he doesn’t want to look and asks if Don wants to look. Don’s response is, “I don’t want to look, I just want to stand here and live in this sliver of hope.”
Sometimes we stand on the outside and look at what seems like a hopeless situation. So hopeless that we just want to walk away without even trying. It’s in those moments that I believe we are standing in a sliver of hope. We want to just live in what “could be” and not be bothered to look and see what is actually there. If we never look we can’t be disappointed. We can dwell in the sliver of hope forever. But when we step out and act from that sliver of hope, I believe it is in that moment that God honors our search and blesses us.
Not that those are the only kinds of situations that God honors and redeems, but that is definitely the kinds of situations where God shows up provides for those faithful enough to act on even a sliver of hope.
adventures in living an abundant life