Waiting is always hard.......I guess it's because we want things NOW.....but that's not reality. We can wait in silence or wait in anticipation. Waiting in anticipation is so much more fun. :)
6 years ago my family and I all went to Disney world for a trip. My Parents, brother, niece, husband, kids and I all went together.....all 9 of us. We planned for months before we left....the resort, the plane, the meals, the parks we would visit......all that planning got us more excited every time we got together. We all couldn't wait to go and be together and make memories. Well....the day came and we got on that plane and entered the different lands of Disney! We did everything together....all 9 of us. The waiting was hard, but the fun we all had was so worth the wait. All our memories are in a scrap book that keeps coming to me so I can relive the great week.
We are taught as children we need to be patient. This is something some people never master. Patience isn't inherited, but learned. If we aren't put in situations where we need to wait....we would never learn patience. Patience is a result of waiting. We wait for all kinds of things.....
I wait for.....
- my lunch break
- my shift to be over
- church to start Sunday morning
- meetings to be done
- my supper to get finished
- my paycheck
- my kids to visit
- a hot shower after a long day
- opportunities to make new friends
- ways to show love to others
- ways to help people
- Jesus return
Some of these things are in anticipation.....but some may take a while to transpire.
Thinking about all this makes me think of Jesus. He is coming one day to claim His bride (Christians) and take us to be where he is. We are to wait in humble anticipation for this glorious day! Waiting for Him to come for me? That's amazing and I so don't deserve it at all.....but the Bible is clear that he is preparing a place for the people who love Him and choose Him. He will return to take us to His side. This is the biggest and most important event we can wait for! It will be so much better than Disney.....and that place is amazing too.....but there's no comparison when it comes to heaven and spending eternity with our Savior!
John 14:2-3
Jesus says....."in my fathers house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you, I will come back, and take you to be with me that you may be where I am".
Luke 12:40
You must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
2 Peter 3:1-18
Verse 12......you ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed it's coming.
Waiting is hard!!
ReplyDeleteI know some people may not want Jesus to come, but I would love to see that day. I think about it more and more with all that is going on in world. I know I have some people I love very dearly that aren't saved. But, I still would love for him come. When he does come. we will never wait on anything again!!!
Isaiah 40:31.....those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.....
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful verse about waiting and being strong in our Lord as we do it.
I'd like Jesus to return and I too have unsaved family. I've lost people In my family and I'm not sure they are in heaven.....but we have to keep pressing on.
I like what you said about him coming and we never waiting on anything again.....of course we won't.....we will be in Jesus presence and what more could we ask for? What more would we need to wait for? That's a great comment! Thanks.
This also makes me think of another kind of wait. I was a waitress (also called a server!) for years and my job was to listen carefully to the customer and try to do exactly as they wanted. I think of waiting on Jesus as in sitting quietly in his presence, asking what he wants and listening carefully. Then I need to do it....to serve him. But the beauty of it is, he knows I can not do this properly on my own. He tells us his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I used to think that sounded laborious, until I understood that better. When we yoke up (team up) with him, HE really carries the load, we are just with him in it. Picture oxen or horses teamed up working together compared to one alone, especially in a yoke built for two. I think this also helps keep us headied in the right direction WITH him and not running off on our own.
ReplyDeleteWaiting also makes me picture Mary sitting at Jesus' feet. Yes, there was work to be done and Martha certainly made it known, but Mary had her priority set on stilling herself to enjoy the presence of Christ. Our lives are busy and there is always plenty to do, but when we don't still ourselves and intentionally look to Christ for our source of strength, love, even identity, we can get impatient, grumpy, weak, and start complaining and blaming others for things. (It happens to me anyhow. I'm thankful the Holy Spirit tells me to knock it off and make thinks right .)
As far as waiting for the Lord's return or waiting to get to heaven, that is exciting to think about, yet sad knowing some loved ones would not be joining us at this time. What I love and appreciate though is that we are invited to participate spiritually in a bit of heaven even while we are still here on this earth as it is. John 17 tells us how we are privileged to join in the presence of the trinity with other believers in perfect unity. I love that passage.
You bring up a good point Tracey. In not waiting with Jesus, I also get impatient, grumpy, weak, and start complaining and blaming others for things. It happened tonight on my way to work. It was a bad sleep day and there was an issue or person at work I was planning on dealing with in not the most Christian way. On my way I prayed as usual and I included letting me forgive the person I was thinking of having an issue with as God has forgiven me. When I got to work not only did I have pleasant encounter with the person but they had already the matter at hand taken care of. When they were telling me about it, I thought about my prayer on the way in. I actually almost couldn't contain my excitement at God letting me see him in action. If I would have just waited with him, I would have saved me and my wife some grief.
ReplyDeleteWe all go through hard times in life, surgery, illness, death of a loved ones, money issues and the list goes on and on. But, we all have Jesus and we also have a church or faith family. Yes, we may not agree on everything all the time, but I think we all agree that we are there to support each other in waiting for better days. That is our command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Glad you joined the conversation Tracey. Please share again with us!!
This makes me think of the song about waiting from Fireproof......the movie. The line in the song says....."I will serve you while I'm waiting.....I will worship while I'm waiting.....I will love you while I'm waiting." This movie is about a broken marriage, but how many times is our relationship broken with our God? Same principle. Even when we don't understand, we can wait and waiting is teaching us patience. and patience is very much needed in our life.
ReplyDeleteYes tracey....thank you! Great words and insight.
And Bruce.....I wish I could have seen your enthusiasm when God had this worked out and you were at peace with all of it. Amazing.