GRACE IN THE MIDDLE

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 253

After Saturday night’s sleeplessness, crashing hard last night felt astoundingly good, thanks in part to Dr. Benadryl. Hahaha! I woke up this morning groggily rested, which kicked off a wonderfully slow, blessedly boring Monday. Nothing out of the ordinary—just the steady, peaceful rhythm of a regular day.

But then came my usual Monday mashup with Max. After our standard crap-flinging session, our convo went from zero to sixty super-quick. We ended up neck-deep in the weeds of all things end-times, (eschatology for all you fancy pants theologians out there).

Max shared something I hadn’t heard before. He mentioned a new Israeli Sanhedrin (that per Google formalized in 2004. This was news to me). Anyway, I guess this new council of rabbis signed a formal petition to God, requesting He send the Messiah, construct a third temple, and to rid them of their earthly enemies.

Honestly, I had a knee-jerk reaction and said something like, “Oh, c’mon… really? That sounds a bit like…. (You fill in the blank). Well, anyways, Max was right. He done showed me the evidence. Anyway, I guess there really are some folks in Israel who’re trying to force God’s hand to speed-up the prophetic clock.

Nothing like a little, lighthearted Monday morning chat about world-ending eschatological stuff. Now that I got you off on a rabbit trail too….

Anywho, it hit me today how wild it is to live right in the space between those two realities: the grace of good rest vs. world-ending stuff —the macro and the micro.

On one hand, you’ve got these grand, sweeping movements of history, theology, and prophecy playing out in the background. On the other hand, my immediate reality was just enjoying a quiet day and a desperately needed solid night of sleep.

Today, I’m thankful for the grace found right in the middle. Thank goodness I don't have to carry the weight of the prophetic timeline, or figure out exactly how the end-times will play-out. The Almighty has the macro (and well, the micro also) entirely under control. My job – your job too – is just to faithfully receive the gift of grace, holding both the macro and the micro in balance.

So, sometimes, a slow, uneventful day is exactly the kind of blessing this old, fat friar needs. What are you thankful for today?