When we don't want to leave

Some journeys begin with excitement- we look forward to travelling, we anticipate encountering new things, the destination beckons us on with promise of something better.

But some journeys are forced upon us. We have to travel, because we can no longer stay where we are. We move away from what is know, what is familiar, what is secure into a future which is unwelcome, unwanted and unasked for. The journey becomes a burden, taking us further and further away from what had anchored us and sustained us.

The first journey recorded in the Bible was like this. Genesis begins in a garden, where everything is good- but in the space of a few chapters Adam and Eve are on the move.

"The Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man...."  Genesis 3:23, 23

 This journey begins with disappointment, with sadness and shame, with promises of hard work, pain and struggle ahead. We struggle to make sense of journeys like these, which seem to offer nothing but difficulty.

This weekend, spend some time reading Psalm 23, where David reminds us that though our journey may take us through valleys as well as meadows, we don't walk alone:

"Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
For you are with me;
Your rod and your staff- they comfort me."
Psalm 23:4

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