Psalm 57: 1b, 7 I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. . .My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
Comedian Steven Wright has an oddball comedy routine in which someone asks him how he is feeling. His response is, "Do you know how it is when you rock too far backward, and you're at that tipping point where you don't know if you'll go all the way over? That's how I feel all the time!"
Hopefully none of us actually feel that way all the time, but there are occasions when we do. That's what happens when we enter liminal space, the space between two places. It's a transition zone where things have been stable, they are now disrupted, but the new state has not yet been fully realized.
I think of an elderly couple I know who have realized that growing cognitive issues mean that they need to seek new living arrangements with increased care. They are still living in what they hoped was their "forever home," but they may soon be dismantling the home and the lifestyle they've known to move elsewhere for better quality of life. The couple has entered liminal space.
David experienced this when he was fleeing from Saul, hiding in caves, keeping on the move. He had once been the kingdom's Golden Boy, and he knew he would eventually become king, but he was in a dangerous liminal space. David wrote Psalm 57 to express his feelings that he did not take refuge in caves as much as in the shadow of the Almighty's wings. David affirmed that in this liminal space, his heart would remain steadfast, and he would continue to sing and make music for God.
When we enter liminal space, we might feel uncomfortable, fearful, like we're nearing that rocking chair tipping point. David's psalm reminds us that God is with us in the caves, in the transition zone.
So, in our own liminal spaces, let us resolve to possess steadfast hearts and to continue to thrive amidst uncertainty, knowing God is present.
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