"We must not only think of our waiting upon God,
but also of what is more wonderful still,
of God's waiting upon us."
Thus begins today's thought from the classic devotional work, "Streams In the Desert," and I must confess, it took me back for more than a minute. Matter of fact, here it is 3:25 in the afternoon, 8 hours after I first read it, and it continues to rattle around in my heart and mind. Why? A couple of reasons, I believe (at least for me - you fill in yours for you):
First - I hate waiting! Thus, I can get more than a little frustrated when it seems that God isn't doing what I asked or expected. While I know that waiting is a normal part of the Christian life, I still don't like it! My Type-A personality wants to scream, "But look at all the time I am/we're wasting just waiting around!" And just when I am about to this point, invariably I come across something like today's thought.
Second - As I ponder this concept, I can't help but get a somewhat erie feeling that maybe the reason God hasn't done what I'm expecting (or what He is prepared to do) is because He is waiting on me. Just maybe I have been entrusted with and been holding the key to turn the lock and haven't even realized it!
Have you ever found yourself wondering what your life would be like if you could be totally obedient to what God asks of you? When I look at the amazing things that God has done throughout my life (in spite of me being less than the model Christian at times), I can't even imagine what He'd do if I'd really get my act together...all the time.
But still He waits...real love always does. I'm looking at a quote on my wall right now by Brennan Manning that fits here as good as anywhere:
"God loves you unconditionally as you are
and not as you should be, because you're never going to be as you should be."
And while I can rest in that love, I dare not presume upon it and neglect the very things that are hindering Him from acting, and me (who knows, maybe the entire community or world) from not having to wait anymore!
I'm sure there will always be things I find myself waiting upon Him for, but I pray that by God's grace, He can do a lot less waiting on me in 2010. Maybe I'll discover that there's actually a "Waiting Equation" of sorts...you know, something like this: "The amount of time required in waiting on God is inversely proportional to the level of obedience in my life" - translated: "More obedience = less waiting." I can't wait to find out!
