“Trying to Smell the Color 9”

Nine Isn’t a Color

The wilderness stretched to the horizon in all directions. Which way was the shortest path out? Like Job, God never answered my why questions.

Comprehending God’s purpose in that situation was like trying to smell the color nine. (Thank you, Chris Rice, for releasing your song “Smell the Color 9” in 2000.)

A sister in Christ listened to me unload a tractor trailer full of disappointment, doubt, and hurt. When I finished, she leaned forward and shared her story. In her pain, she found God is big enough to absorb all the anger we hurl at heaven.

Then she said, “Today you’re in the wilderness. Tomorrow you will go even farther into the wilderness. Yes, God has you in a really good place right now.”

Besides, We Can’t Smell Colors

My eyes conveyed a colorful response. Unfazed, she continued. “After the Exodus, the Israelites complained the whole time they were in the wilderness. Yet being in the wilderness meant two things.

One, they weren’t enslaved in Egypt anymore.

Two, every day brought them a little closer to the Promised Land.

God has you in a good place in the wilderness. You’re not stuck where you’ve been. And every day brings you closer to where God wants you next.”

How We Feel or What We Believe?

I chewed my lip and rocked in my seat, then shook my head. “Sorry, this doesn’t feel like a good place.”

I wanted the Great Physician to give me a shot, not a bottle of pills. I wanted instant healing.

“I know. You’re not ready to hear that it’s not about how you feel. It’s all about believing what’s true. It will stay cruddy until you reach the other side, and maybe for a little longer after that. Yet one day it will get better. I promise.”

She was bull’s-eye right. But I still don’t like the wilderness any better.

How do you handle trying to smell the color nine?

David