A Table in the Wilderness

What a whirlwind life has been these past few weeks, especially these past 10 days or so. I flew out to Salt Lake City late Thursday night, bought my car with the help of a childhood friend, and drove it back to Chicago with my mom. We divided the trip into three 8-hour parts: on Saturday we drove to Denver and stayed with Alison. The next day, my mom and I started the drive the Omaha, Nebraska and stayed the night there and then finally completed the journey from Omaha to Chicago today. To be honest, life has been a blur but I feel like I've had moments throughout where I've been able to sit and process a bit, namely during the insanely boring drive through most of Nebraska. I read my daily scripture readings out loud to my mom this morning during our drive and one passage struck me. Psalm 78 is a lengthy psalm and I'm glad I was reading it out loud because it prevented me from simply glossing over it. The psalm highlights the faithfulness of God despite the fickleness of humankind and verse 19 states "Can God provide a table in the wilderness?" The imagery of a table conjures up a feast, provision, and celebration and stands in stark juxtaposition against an environment that has negative connotations of loneliness, neediness, desolation, and hardship. The thing is, we've all found ourselves in the wilderness. Such is the way of life, and no one is exempt from experiencing the wilderness or dark night of the soul. 

This verse struck me because I was reminded that God has time and time again provided a table during wilderness seasons. He did it in the past, and he did it again this season of confusion and disorientation. For me, the table represents communion with the Lord and I found myself being reassured of his humble  presence. Indeed, I was provided an opportunity to feast at the table in the wilderness, and in doing so, got to experience the goodness of the Lord that has left me marveling and in awe. 

There will be more seasons where I will find myself traversing the arid desert, to do so alone is unfathomable to me and quite honestly, the thought of doing so makes me fearful. I don't want to journey solo during hard seasons, and I want to live life in a way that welcomes the Lord into the great expanse that makes up my existence here on earth. The presence of someone far greater, far supreme than life's joys and woes... this is what I desire.