Waiting

Wait.

  To even hear the word makes me cringe somewhat. I'm uncomfortable with waiting, as I'm sure many of you are, as well. As is true to God's nature, however, and His desire to see us constantly learn to be more dependent upon Him, I nearly always find myself waiting for something in life. The things that I'm waiting for today will most likely not be the same as whatever it is that I'm waiting for five years from now, but the emotion behind the waiting is what really matters. The fact is, when God challenges my heart in a certain area and causes me to wait for something that I so desperately long for, I often struggle with honoring Him in the waiting.  I frequently seek to justify my impatience by telling God over and over again that what I'm longing for is something that I NEED. Something that will be for His glory. Something that will help us be a better testimony of His goodness.
  I wonder if God laughs at these thoughts of mine. Seriously, who am I trying to convince? The God of the universe who loves me deeply enough to make me wait has declared that these things will serve a purpose. Romans 8 gives us a perfect summation: "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it , in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (verses 19-27).
  Wow. God intentionally subjects us to frustration. That could be a little hard to swallow if our focus is on our comfort, our self-centered lifestyles, or our "American dream." The part that follows blows me away, though! He does this so that we will be "liberated from our bondage to decay." We are in bondage to decay. We cannot be deceived about that! Without the Lord and His intentions for our life, we're nothing but bound by a slavery to sin that we can barely fathom. By His unmeasurable love, He chooses for us to suffer so that we understand what true Freedom is. Freedom is not something American. Freedom is found in Christ alone! (To be free to worship is a blessing; don't misunderstand me. Yet, day by day those freedoms are taken from us. We cannot be surprised by a government who chooses to take away our personal freedom when they fail to understand what true freedom is.)
  The point of my rambling is this: I don't know what it is that you're waiting on tonight. It may be something small or trivial, but important to you, or it may be absolutely life-altering, as is the case with what I find myself waiting upon now. I will never be able to change the fact that I will always feel that I'm waiting on something. But, I can change my response to where God has me right now. Today. Not looking or begging for change, but trusting my God to fulfill what He has promised. Just as our pastor pointed out in today's message, Luke 1: 45 declares that Mary was blessed because she believed that God would fulfill His promise. After 400 years of silence, God spoke and declared that He was giving His Son to the world. 400 years of silence. Can you even imagine a world where God was silent for 400 years? I can't. I shudder to even think about Him remaining silent for a week.
  He calls us to wait. He promises that when we do, we'll understand freedom. It's not an easy task, and it's one that I battle every day, but I'm trusting that God will deliver. Abram waited for a son. The Israelites waited to enter the promised land. Job waited for God to move. The world waited for a Savior. In every case, God delivered. He'll deliver you and me, too.