Waiting on God
Waiting on God
My car stalls in traffic. I look in vain under the hoodo to identify the cause, while the driver behind me leans on the hord. Finally, I have had enough. I go to the car and say, kindly, "I don't know what the matter is with my car. But if you want to go look under the hood, I will be glad to stay here and honk for you."
We are not patient people. We live in an instant message, fast-food eating, microwaving, express lane shoping hurry.
These are the following words from John Ortberg, in his book
"If you want to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat."
---Some forms of waiting are trivial in the overall scheme of things----waiting in the doctor's office, or on the expressway.
But there are more serious and difficult forms of waiting:
The waiting of a single person who hopes God might have a marriage in store but is beggining to despair
The waiting of a teenager for a miracle cure because their car accident has left them paralyzed from the neck-down, to never walk again.
The waiting of a childless couple who desperately want to start a family.
The waiting of Nelson Mandela as he sits in a prison cell for twenty-seven years and wonders ifhe will ever be free or if his country will ever know justice.
The waiting that accompanies education--whether it is learning a new language, algebra, applications to college, or discernment of a ministerial call.
The waiting of a child who feels awkward and clumsy and longs for the day when he gets picked first on the playground.
Every one of us, in some capacity, in some way, will have to learn to wait.
Lewis Smedes writes 'Waiting is our destiny as creatures who cannot by themselves bring about what they hope for.
We wait in the darkness for a flame we cannot light.
We wait in fear for a happy ending we cannot write.
Waiting is the hardest work of hope.'
Waiting may be the hardest thing we are called to do.
When we turn to the Bible we hear of Abraham waiting for 24 years before he can have a child. The Israelites spent 40 years wondering and waiting in the desert.
Paul was chained to a prison cell for years, and yet he brings us wisdom from his suffering.
"We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
We worship a God that is "not seen," and while this brings heart-ache, this also reminds us that we can only do so much.
We can merely walk along this road.
As U2 says, "Walk on."
In these times, walking is enough.
What we wait for is not more important than what happens to us while we are waiting.
God bless us all on this journey of hope and expectation.
My car stalls in traffic. I look in vain under the hoodo to identify the cause, while the driver behind me leans on the hord. Finally, I have had enough. I go to the car and say, kindly, "I don't know what the matter is with my car. But if you want to go look under the hood, I will be glad to stay here and honk for you."
We are not patient people. We live in an instant message, fast-food eating, microwaving, express lane shoping hurry.
These are the following words from John Ortberg, in his book
"If you want to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat."
---Some forms of waiting are trivial in the overall scheme of things----waiting in the doctor's office, or on the expressway.
But there are more serious and difficult forms of waiting:
The waiting of a single person who hopes God might have a marriage in store but is beggining to despair
The waiting of a teenager for a miracle cure because their car accident has left them paralyzed from the neck-down, to never walk again.
The waiting of a childless couple who desperately want to start a family.
The waiting of Nelson Mandela as he sits in a prison cell for twenty-seven years and wonders ifhe will ever be free or if his country will ever know justice.
The waiting that accompanies education--whether it is learning a new language, algebra, applications to college, or discernment of a ministerial call.
The waiting of a child who feels awkward and clumsy and longs for the day when he gets picked first on the playground.
Every one of us, in some capacity, in some way, will have to learn to wait.
Lewis Smedes writes 'Waiting is our destiny as creatures who cannot by themselves bring about what they hope for.
We wait in the darkness for a flame we cannot light.
We wait in fear for a happy ending we cannot write.
Waiting is the hardest work of hope.'
Waiting may be the hardest thing we are called to do.
When we turn to the Bible we hear of Abraham waiting for 24 years before he can have a child. The Israelites spent 40 years wondering and waiting in the desert.
Paul was chained to a prison cell for years, and yet he brings us wisdom from his suffering.
"We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
We worship a God that is "not seen," and while this brings heart-ache, this also reminds us that we can only do so much.
We can merely walk along this road.
As U2 says, "Walk on."
In these times, walking is enough.
What we wait for is not more important than what happens to us while we are waiting.
God bless us all on this journey of hope and expectation.
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