Where is the EXIT.?

After planning and failing many days to visit Vandalur Zoo, my husband and I finally went there last week. We decided to explore by walk. Though there was this electric vehicle and electric cycles, this time we wanted to take it slowly.

They had a vast place, carefully dividing one animal from the other with so much gap. So it was a whole-day walk to cover the entire park. All of us started the journey with joy. But, halfway through, we saw people exhausted. Some sat on the sides, and many stopped. And then we saw a couple. The wife was exhausted, but the husband was telling her, “See, here is the Sarugu Maan’s(a mini version of the deer)cell. Let’s go and check.” But the woman, after wandering and walking for a long time, said, “Why see anything anymore? Tell me where is the exit.”

She was putting so much pressure on her mind, while her body was exhausted. And she had surely reached the verge of quitting.

I understood that anything that takes much of our effort, time, and pressure exhausts our mind and soul. Sometimes we wonder where we are exactly and where the exit is.

But this morning, God woke me up and encouraged me with a quick verse which says:

Proverbs 23:18

“For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.”

Though I was walking on the same path as that woman, walking for a long time and exhausted in body, I had a different attitude that helped me look forward, as I clearly knew that there is an ending.

You know why? It was because I was walking while holding the hands of my husband, enjoying and talking even through the tiredness, as he has been to the place and knows the exit. I know for sure he will surely take me to the exit. And a hopeful trip back to our safe haven is there for us.

Hey friend, we are not going through anything different from what the people in the outside world are going through. We fight almost with the same issues that they fight with. But we don't need to be panicked. For we can be assured of the One who is holding our hands through it all.

He says to us, “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” in Jeremiah 29:11.

And like He said to me this morning, as in Proverbs, surely there is an end and your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 23:18

Dear God, thank You for being our guide, thank You for holding our hands, thank You for walking along with us and filling our minds with hopefulness. Love You, dear Lord.

I pray that You encourage every heart that is troubled, every heart that needs comfort and hope. Strengthen us once again, dear Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.