The Waiting Game




Waiting..... I can be a very impatient person.  I'm trying to sell a home that is 900 plus miles away and cannot be there to talk to potential buyers, to fix problems, to deal with my real estate agent, etc...  Patience is difficult because waiting is hard...  My brother in law was recently diagnosed with cancer and as they wait for test results I find myself impatient.  You want to know what is wrong and what will be done and how long it will take and what the prognosis is and, well the ands go on and on.  Waiting is down right problematic because even though we are in Christ our flesh wants immediate answers, results, etc...


Before you chide me, Yes I know that patience is a fruit of the Spirit and as a Christian I am to bear this fruit, but I still find myself being impatient.  Let me explain.  As a pastor I look at the landscape of the church and see such potential.  My human nature is to immediately jump to action and take control.  My human nature says "do whatever it takes and let see everything happen now".  As a father I want to see immediate change in my children when I correct them.  As a husband I want to see immediate change in my marriage.  You know, you read a book on marriage and find something that seems to by dynamic and great and you want your marriage to be just like that even though the authors marriage probably isn't really like that but still...  You catch my drift.  As a driver, well lets leave that alone and just say my patience is tested regularly - even though I am not the best driver out their either.  In general I can be impatient at times and very patient at others.  But I am called to patience.


God's word, which always speaks a better word than my own, shows us that patience is what living in Christ is about.  In Nehemiah chapter 1 we find that Nehemiah learns of the destruction of Jerusalem.  In my flesh I would flee to Jerusalem and immediately start rebuilding.  Yet this would be of my own work, even if it is what God wanted.  Why?  The first thing Nehemiah does is not run off and start working, instead he does what patience should teach us to do.  Nehemiah 1:4 tells us "As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continues fasting and praying before the God of heaven."  He fasted and prayed before the Lord.  You see this allowed Nehemiah to see the big picture and take time to fully understand God's will before reacting harshly, or wrongly - even though to the flesh it may have seemed right.


God teaches us a theology of waiting in Mark 4:26-34.  Our fleshly deeds cannot and will not suffice God apart from His doing in and through us.  When I share the gospel with someone I might want an immediate response so that I can say that I really accomplished something in Christ today. (Come on - you don't share the gospel thinking "man I hope they wait a long time to come to Christ.") Waiting is difficult but we must remember that we are merely the messengers and He is the message.  We are the voice and He is the Word.  We are the road sign pointing to Him, as He is the destination.  God is the one working in us and through us for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).  When I lose my patience I am effectively telling God He needs to meet my schedule instead of me submitting faithfully to His.


So as a leader I must spend time in prayer and fasting that I know God's will and I do not either try to outrun Him or lag behind.  As a parent and father I must trust God's leading and not try and push an agenda that's suits me instead of a plan purposed by Him.  As a driver...you get the point I am sure.  God calls us to wait on Him - His timing is perfect as well as His will.  Isaiah 55:8 reminds me that my flesh is nothing compared to His ways and His thoughts which are far loftier and indeed more complete than my own.  Finally I must remember His patience with me is far greater than I can even fathom - He demonstrated it on the cross so I must submit to Him and trust His time in all things.  For One day He will return and until that time I am, of course, waiting...

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