A few days ago, Jan and I drove to the town of Bandon on the Oregon coast. En route, we were way out in the country. We passed a wide spot in the road with a sign telling us we were passing through a place called Remote. There was a sign on the road announcing we were passing through Remote It was everything its name defined. There was nothing there. It was remote.
It reminded me of the times in life when we felt all alone, in a place where no one was there to help. Those times are emotionally, and at times, spiritually remote. What made me comfortable as we drove through Remote was the fact that we had plenty of gas and a reliable car to get us to our destination. About ten miles past Remote we entered a real town with all a person might need to live a normal life.
If you are in a remote place, out in the middle of emotional and spiritual nowhere, it is important to remember what the Lord has given you for the journey. He has given you all you will need to get through the remote feelings to a place of stability.
Remoteness is just a place on the roadway of life. If you keep moving forward in faith you will eventually arrive at a settlement of stability where your life will return to normal. In your journey, you will have discovered an aspect of God’s presence that was revealed in a profound way that can only be discovered and experienced in a remote place.
“O Lord, hear my cry! Hear my prayer! From the most remote place on earth I call out to you in my despair” (Psalm 61:1-2).
Me. Right now. The most empty and full…. joyful and sorrowful… place I have ever been. Void of the sound of many voices and filled with the voice of the Lord. Yes, He meets us in the remote places…. and, sometimes, He leads us into them. What I’ve called the solitary place, He calls our intimacy….and, just as He led me in, He will lead me out.