Liminal Space

Sometimes things happen in our lives that are beyond our control. We are no longer in our comfortable place, and we think we are heading to a much better place, but we are not there yet either.

A Liminal Space is when you are no longer where you used to be, but neither have you arrived.

The Liminal Space is Not What You Expected

When the Israelites headed out for the Promised Land, they were no longer in Egypt, but nor had they arrived. They were in a liminal space. When things got harsh, fond memories of the safety of their slavery years bubbled to the surface. When they sent in 12 of their most adventurous to see the reality of the great dream God had given them, 83% (10 of the 12) of them shrank back in fear. The journey to God’s best place for you can be scary, and the path there can look and feel much different than you expected.

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE,
HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME,
AND WILL NOT DELAY.
BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE
SHALL LIVE BY FAITH;
AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK,
MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul (Heb. 10:35-39).

Maybe God has given you a dream of a better future, and then everything gets a lot worse, but you still feel you are tracking with God. Every morning I review one month of my old journal entries in sequence. Yesterday I reviewed what I sensed God saying to me in July 2016. Today I reviewed June. Tomorrow I’ll review May. Etc. Since March 2013, I have been noting current-month observations and reviewing my historical journey notes. Here is my review from this morning.

June 24, 2016 – I feel stalled, like I am not moving forward. My personal vision feels vague like it’s on autopilot. I sensed a Word from God this morning. “My plans for you are Big. Big Plans. Lots of stuff will happen soon. In the meantime, enjoy this season. Life is richer if you enjoy the seasons. This is like a winter season or a fallow time, necessary for a fruitful life. It is a gift to you.”

I don’t know how many times, even in this year, 2023, and throughout the last ten years, I have heard these words from God. Frequently people who do not know one another or my specific situation come up to me and say, “God told me that you are on the verge of something huge.” I write these reminders down in my journal because they are like GPS markers. They keep me on track.

In one sense, the liminal-space journey is God’s destination for you at this time.

Secret Places to Meet God

The Garden of Eden was the perfect oasis where God enjoyed creation. Outside the garden were four rivers filled with “good gold” and other jewels, but the way back into God’s Perfect Garden was open . . . until people decided they wanted to become judges of good and evil. Then God blocked the access back into His Perfect Place with cherubim and flaming swords (Gen. 2:24). In Exodus, in the liminal place, God designed a way to meet with people. He instructed Moses to put reminders of the cherubim guards on the curtains to His presence (Ex. 25-26). Inside the Holy place were many symbols of the Garden of Eden, like almond blossoms, flowers, and branches (Ex. 25:31-40).

Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman (Ex. 26:1).

The Holy of Holies was a cube.

The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold (1 Kings 6:20).

The Heavenly City is Also a Cube!

The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal (Rev. 21:16).

The heavenly city is like a huge Holy of Holies, where God lives with people.

Jesus’ sacrifice opened the way back into God’s Garden. The curtain with the cherubim guardians was ripped open. Free access! We can re-enter the secret place where God rules if we come on His terms.

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind . . .
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel (NASB, Heb. 12:18-24).

How to Thrive in the Liminal Space

And they overcame him because of (1) the blood of the Lamb and because of (2) the word of their testimony, and (3) they did not love their life even when faced with death (Rev. 12:11).

1. We Prioritize Quality Time With God in the Secret Place

We spend time with God in a spiritual garden, city, mountaintop, or secret place. We get filled with God’s presence, so we can embrace a chaos world in search of the “good gold” (Gen. 2).

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7a).

2. We Share our Stories

We present ourselves to those around us as spiritual people by sharing our stories.

A friend from South Africa shared the above quote on Facebook.
I smiled all week at the idea.
The opposite is also true.
Social media is a place where we can share our stories.
I like Mailchimp, but there are many platforms.

Twelve years ago, I told a mentor, “I think I will start a weekly newsletter.” That week I wrote my first Mailchimp. The next week I wrote another one. Today I wrote my 638th Mailchimp. Meditating on and then recounting my experience with God’s activity became a source of strength and encouragement to me.

Lessons Learned:

It is scary to write our testimony and send it out because we do not know how it will be received. In our desire to encourage some, we position ourselves as targets to be judged.
It is exhilarating, like getting out of the bleachers and into the game.
Writing doesn’t replace telling our stories personally, but there is an element of thoughtfulness in the writing process that helps us understand what we believe.
Our testimonies help our friends, and they help us.
1. Seth Godin wrote a book called Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (2008). The premise is that we are all part of a system of our people. We need each other. Your people are waiting for you to speak up and show them the way forward. How does Christianity work for you? What if we had no stories of the Israelite’s progress through liminal space to the Promised Land? How many millions of people have been helped by the honest recollection of God’s faithfulness through their transition from slaves to landowners?
2. When we retell our stories, they become part of our identity. We own the victories. If we do not tell our stories, we risk losing them as they fade away.
Do not complain to people. It might be a way to bind your anxiety, but God thinks complaining to people is a bad idea and will not improve your situation (Phil. 2:14-15). Transparently working on your issues with God or a trusted mentor is helpful. Once you are through your challenge, share your victory in a way that gives glory to God.
If you wonder whether or not you should tell a story that includes another person, do not share it. Let the doubt be a warning.
Moses wished everyone would prophecy (Num. 11:29). Paul wished everyone would speak in tongues privately and prophecy in church (1 Cor. 14:5). I wish everyone would share a God-honoring weekly story and photo with their tribe. One nice thing about social media is that we can take our tribe with us, even if we move to another country, church, or job. Rather than trading one tribe for another, we keep expanding our tribe.

3. We are as Completely Abandoned to the Journey as Peter Was When He Stepped Out of the Boat

We commit to complete abandonment to follow Jesus.
We learn to like manna and quail more than leeks and onions.
We listen to God and luxuriate in following Him, even when everything feels wrong and scary.
We lean into risks of faith, experiencing seasons of abundance instead of self-reliant poverty.
We do not quit because something is impossible. We often do not see how it can work out, but we keep our eyes on Jesus and courageously take the next step.

In 2019 our daughter Emma carved and woodburned this masterpiece into a large piece of wood and gave it to Deanna for her birthday.

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

—Theodore Roosevelt
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

The back of Emma’s masterpiece gift to Deanna.

What is your experience with Liminal Space?

Rick.