Sittin', Waitin', Wishin' (Part 2)

Read Part 1 here.

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul,
'therefore I will hope in him.'
The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him." (Lamentations 3:22-25 ESV)

Most of my associations with waiting are negative: waiting lines, waiting rooms, waiting lists, waiting on hold...all passive, all boring, even frustrating. I've wondered, is waiting on God like waiting in line? Thankfully, the answer to that question is NO! A few weeks ago, I was exploring Bible passages that have to do with waiting and I came across I Corinthians 1:4-9:
[4] I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, [5] that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— [6] even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— [7] so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, [8] who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (ESV, emphasis mine)
Paul is thanking God for the way He sustained the Corinthian church while they waited for Jesus to return. The kind of wait that Paul describes includes the following:
  • being enriched in Jesus Christ in every way, including speech and knowledge (vs 5)
  • the testimony about Christ being confirmed among them (vs 6)
  • no lack of any spiritual gift (vs 7)
  • sustenance from Jesus Christ to the end (vs 8)
  • the experience God's faithfulness through a clean conscience and fellowship with Him (vs 8-9)
What if my wait for [insert whatever dream is in your heart] looked like the church's wait for the return of Christ? What if it involved being enriched in Jesus Christ in every way? What if my submission to him confirmed my testimony about Christ to others? What if every day along the way, I enjoyed an assortment of spiritual gifts, sustenance from Jesus himself, and a clean conscience before God? That doesn't sound passive, boring, or frustrating. What I'm learning is that waiting on God is not sitting still; it's living with an expectation. In our case, as believers, we are living with the expectation of massive, daily good and future pleasures that far outweigh our present struggles.

Going green!

Lynn

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