The Blessing of Waiting

"So the LORD must wait for you to come to him

so he can show you his love and compassion.

For the LORD is a faithful God.

Blessed are those who wait for his help."
Isaiah 30:18 NLT

It's hard to wait.  I want to get on with my life, leave this time of suffering and hardship.  I want to see my loved one come to faith in Christ and taste the abundance of life He offers.  I want to be free from this wretched body of death.  I'm tempted to turn to other sources to find relief, to try different tactics to persuade, to up my effort in order to do better.  But there is a blessing for those who wait for His help.

Gracious.  One man should not have so much power, but he did.  And it corrupted him.  He sadistically presented the woman with two choices upon entrance into the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi Germany.  She was forced to decide which of her two children would survive and live within the camp, and which would immediately be killed in the gas chambers.  Sophie's choice was a decision no mother should ever have to make, but one the god of Auschwitz presented to her.  

Such manipulation by one in a position of power turns the stomach.  While God, the maker of heaven and earth could be such a god, He is not.  He does not play games nor is He is a bully God.  He does not manipulate or bribe His image bearers to come to Him.  He does not put mankind in impossible situations just to watch them squirm.  Instead, He offers life through faith in His Son Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross in dying as a sin offering.  Either I take it, or I leave it.

When I take Him up on His offer of life, I discover how rich in character He is.  He shows love and compassion to those who come to Him for help, willingly choosing Him over a myriad of options for finding fulfillment and contentment, peace and love, freedom from guilt and shame.  Within this sacred relationship, I am still given the choice of how I operate.  I can walk with my natural flesh and thus produce spoiled fruit, or I can keep in step with God's indwelling Spirit as the evidence of this cooperation makes itself known in ways I don't always notice (Galatians 5:13-23). 

When I long for intimate companionship with my Father through faith in Jesus Christ, I receive the blessing of His abundant grace made manifest in my life.

Faithful.  This ability to choose extends to all areas of my walk with Christ.  No matter how hard it is for me to trust another, I soon learn that God is faithful and can be trusted.  He gives me ample opportunity to see His faithfulness at work as He fulfills promise after promise, never letting me down and always doing as He said He would.  He never leaves me nor does He turn His back on me out of disgust are impatience with my hardheadedness.  

When I take His faithfulness to heart, I can take the chance to rest fully in Him, which is really no risk at all (Psalm 86:15).  There is no possibility that He might change His mind, or forget what He said He'd do, or lose track of time and leave me hanging (Numbers 23:19).  Instead, He is a God who can always be counted on to love me consistently, to keep His Word, to protect me from evil (Deuteronomy 7:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:3).   My part is to place my faith in Him who is faithful.

When I wait on Him as my sole source of all I need, I receive the blessing of His faithfulness made manifest in my life.

Sovereign.  If I had my way, everything would come about immediately, exactly when I want it. There would be no need to wait because anytime would be the right time.  Why wait until tomorrow when today is the perfect time?  But today is not always the perfect time.  I only see my part, while God sees the big picture.  He takes all the pieces of the puzzle into account, knowing which must come forth at which time.  He understands how long it may take for one heart to change, why others are reluctant to submit, what kind of crisis will bring some to their knees (2 Peter 3:9,15).  He knows.

When I trust in His sovereign power, in His knowledge of how all the pieces fit together, of His control of the timing, I have the privilege of seeing His best come to fruition.  Instead of settling for what I want now, whether it be relief from suffering or seeing my loved one come to faith in Christ, I am desiring His best over my inferior, His perfect over my deficient, His cream of the crop over my leftovers.

When I wait on His perfect timing, I receive the blessing of His sovereign power made manifest in my life.

I admit that I don't like to wait and often am guilty of taking matters into my own hands.  When I do wait on God, however, longing for His help and intimacy, I receive something I could never otherwise taste.  I discover the gracious grace upon which I count, His faithfulness that holds me up, and His sovereign power that brings it all together in just the right time.  These are some of the blessings I discover when I wait on Him.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to wait on His timing.

When do I try to force things to happen?

How am I failing to trust God fully?      

   

Great Hope

"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  Whenever I pray, I make my request for all of you with joy,

for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heart it until now.  

And I am certain that God, 

who began the good work within you, 

will continue his work 

until it is finally finished 

on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

Philippians 1:3-6 NLT

I praise God every time I think of you, dear reader, because I know God is at work within you, changing you, growing your faith, transforming you in ways you could never have imagined.  You look at yourself and cannot even recognize who you have become.  

The things that used to make you angry, bringing your blood to the boiling point, have now become opportunities to extend the grace of God.  You can't explain this new you.

Your favorite pastime used to be engrossing yourself in intriguing dramas, but now you are inexplicably drawn to God's Word and can't seem to get enough.  You would never have imagined that you'd ever want to spend time studying the Bible like this.

In the past, the unknown brought about much fear and anxiety, bringing with it sleepless nights and restless days, but now you live in a state of perpetual rest, knowing that God is at work on your behalf.  You can hardly believe such a worrier as you can sleep this well at night.

And so I praise God for you and the difference the Gospel of Jesus Christ has made in your life.  And I praise Him for what He is continuing to do, and all that is to come in the days ahead.

We are a people of great hope! 

Refinement

"I go east, but he is not there.

I go west, but I cannot find him.

I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden.

I look to the south, but he is concealed."

Job 23:8-9 NLT

He held the precious metal to the hottest part of the fire, constantly looking for any sign of overheating.  It was not his intention to damage the silver, but only to purify it of all contaminates.  Every so often he would remove the piece from the heat to test the progress.  Once the silversmith could see his image in the silver, the refinement was complete.

God sits as such a refiner of silver, sometimes holding me to the hottest part of the fire (Malachi 3:2b-3, Zechariah 13:9).  As He takes me through testing and times of trial, though, His eye is never off me.  It is not His intention to damage me or bring me pain, but only to burn away all that does not belong.  This process of refinement continues through my whole life until the end when His image is reflected in me.

Job was going through such a purification process at the hand of Satan, but directed by a God who loved Him and was furthering His plan for Job's life.  From Job's perspective, however, he felt abandon by the God he loved and revered.  He couldn't feel God's comforting presence, couldn't detect Him at all.  He felt all alone in his pain.  Still, Job did not give up.  Instead, he pressed on, clinging to what he knew to be true about God.

I, too, can cling to what is true despite how I feel.

Faithful.  God cannot fail.  He is unable to give up, letting go of His purposes.  He never changes His mind when the going gets tough.  He can be counted on.  In fact, this character trait is so ingrained in the nature of God that when He, in the person of Jesus Christ, appears triumphantly after the Great Tribulation, He is called Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11).

Since God's character is one of faithfulness, I know without a doubt that I can trust Him.  Even when the world around me seems to be shifting and everything I thought was true is being tested, I can stand solidly on the Rock.  He promised to always be with me.  Since He can be trusted, I can know He is with me no matter what my feelings are telling me. 

Simply put, I cannot trust my feelings since they come from my fallible, sinful flesh and are highly susceptible to suggestion.  In fact, it's been my experience that my enemy loves to use my feelings against me, tempting me to believe God doesn't care about me any more, that He has abandoned me, that He could never love me, and that He can't use such a mess-up like me.  Meanwhile, the truth stands in opposition to such nonsense.  Which will I trust?

When I go through times of great suffering, I can place my trust in the God who is faithful.

Sovereign.  His creation.  His plan.  His purposes.  His choice.  I am living in a world created by God, following a plan He laid out before time began, influenced by His mysterious objectives, and ultimately, at His mercy.

God is sovereign over all of His creation.  Since I am part of His world, not He of mine, can I truly expect to do things my way and prosper?  Due to the fact that He made the rules, do I really think my procedures will work better?  While it all belongs to Him, is it really realistic to call anything "mine"?

Still, I stubbornly try.  When I submit to His sovereignty, however, realizing He is the One who gets to decide the direction my life will take, the trials I will face, and the suffering I will endure, these difficult times will take an meaning.  The hurting is not in vain but is part of what God sees as His best for me.  

When I go through times of great suffering, I can place my trust in the God who is sovereign over all things.

Steadfast.  The grasses in the field surrounding our house were waving frantically in the wind.  When a strong gust hit, stray branches would tumble across our yard.  The trees bowed low under the force of the gale but the fence posts stood firm, unwavering in their steadfastness.

God is similar to these posts, never succumbing to the pressures all around, or bowing to outside forces, or changing to adapt to the times.  Instead, God is God, and His nature and characteristics remain constant.

Since He is steady, I can cling to Him at all times, but especially in the midst of the storm when everything else is shifting.  As my world feels shaken up like a snow globe, changing my perspective and sense of reality, I can know with surety that God is right where He was before.  He will not be moved (Psalm 62:6, James 1:17).

When I go through times of great suffering, I can place my trust in the God who is steadfast and constant.

Job's faith was shaken as he suffered greatly, and in his hour of greatest need felt abandoned by the only One who could truly bring relief.  Still, he didn't turn from God, but clung to what he knew was real.  When I face hard times, no matter how severe, I can trust God who is faithful, sovereign and steadfast.  As He holds me to the refiner's fire, then, I can believe that I will come out on the other side unscathed.  My job is to hold on!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can stay true to what I know is accurate.

When do I feel unsure of God's presence?

How am I swayed by feelings of dismay and discouragement?