Living The Midian Dream

The Art of Flourishing in Seasons of Nothing Special

Embracing Purgatory
Every college student knows the times I'm talking about.  That week right after New Years but before school starts back up.  That week toward the end of July bored to death working minimum wage at your summer job.  That Spring Break without any special plans so you spend it at home staying up late, sleeping in until noon, and staying in your sweats for days on end.  Basically it's that boring time, in between exciting things, where nothing is really going on and you fill your days trying to fight off crippling boredom.  Where staring at the wall seems like a reasonable way to spend half an hour.  I call it Purgatory. In the schedule of college we will all encounter many of these times and seasons of nothing special.  

Look familiar?

Sometimes college itself can seem like Purgatory.  Its this weird in between time right after leaving the house but before you start "real life" living in the "real world."  There's awkward transitions like moving into dorms freshman year, paying rent for the first time, or spending your first summer away from home despite your mom's protests.  "Why am I even here?" we often wonder.  "What's the point?" "Can't I just get on with real life?"  As someone with a major without much practical job and skills training, these are questions that often plagued me.  Wouldn't I be better off getting a job rather than wasting my time going in debt? But in the Bible we are told to "make the most of the time, because the days are evil (Eph. 5:16)."   We are told of God that "Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began (Ps. 139:16)."   In other words, whether it is the season of college or a week at home, we are there for a reason and we need to learn to embrace Purgatory!


Learning from Moses
One of the great examples from the Bible about these times of waiting is in the life of Moses.  There are many lessons to be learned from the Exodus about God's faithfulness despite the faithlessness of the Israelites, God's strength despite Moses' weaknesses, and the Passover as pointing towards Jesus.  But one of my favorite lessons is more subtle. It is in the briefly mentioned time of Moses' life in between fleeing from Egypt and hearing from God in the Burning Bush.  During this inbetween time, Moses spent 40 years in a rural land named Midian (Acts 7:30).  He got married, had a family, and lived a pleasant, simple life as a shepherd.  40 years of nothing all that special, nothing really exciting, of just living an average life before God was ready to call him into greatness.

Charlton Heston was the best Moses... after Moses himself I suppose.

 But Moses was never recorded as being unhappy or impatient or wasting his time watching 30 Rock marathons.  Instead, he was both content and productive. He would neither grumble or complain, nor would he let that time go to waste.  It was no doubt this time which helped him remain a bold yet patient leader as he waited for Pharaoh through plague after plague, as he faced the Red Sea with impatient Israelites and Egyptians hot on his tail, and as he waited through another 40 years wandering through the desert.  In Hebrews 11 we learn the secret to Moses' strength: faith.  Moses built his life around the promises and strength of God to sustain him, protect him, provide for him, and to use him.  

I love this picture because its totally insignificant.  No special event or memory, just a random candid picture take by my friend Stephen. It was just the regular, every day Midian. In some ways, that's what makes it most memorable.  

I myself am in a bit of a Purgatory right now. I just graduated from Drake in December but I have yet to go on staff full time with InterVarsity.  I'll be working part time at a restaurant, I am just starting the long process of fundraising, and I'll also begin working with the Drake IV in a new role as staff.  I still don't know where I'm going to be next fall or even this summer.  It's again one of those weird in between times of transition.  But I look back to the times when I thought I was wasting my time, but was blown away by how God showed up in my life and used me. I take stock that those times of waiting in the Bible were often the times of God's greatest preparation. 


Living the Midian Dream 
So the next time we face a time of Purgatory in between exciting times or feel like we're wasting our time at college, let's remember Moses and instead of living the American Dream let's live the Midian Dream.  Let's keep ourselves busy and productive, setting goals for ourselves to not let our time go to waste or fall into old habits.  Idle hands really are the Devil's workshop.  Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible, invest in people and build lasting friendships. In a word: grow. But let's also be content and patient, embrace where we are right here and now, not longing for some distant time in the future when real life will start.  Real life is happening right now in front of us, start living it.   Know that in time God has great things in store beyond our imagination, but take it from me, you'd be amazed at the great things God has in store right here and now, living the Midian Dream.

Seth