The Wisdom of Waiting

The Wisdom of Waiting

So, how well do you deal with waiting? Yesterday, my flight to Newark was delayed for about 15 minutes because of two elderly persons, obviously not well, who needed a lot of help boarding the plane.  I was generally surprised at the level of anger among the crowd of waiting travelers. It rose steadily each passing moment. When we finally boarded, the captain urged people to quickly stow their carry-on luggage so that we could get underway.  Impatient irritation showed through in his tone. But I cannot throw any stones at those impatient people, for I too often have also been impatient. When I sense that impatience in myself, I work at defusing any anger.  Anger only adds to the unpleasantness of waiting. I only wish I had learned that lesson much earlier in life.

The Scripture counsels patience, not just with the irritants, but with the Lord and life. "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near." (James 5:7-8, NIV) This passage speaks to us in the imperative; it is not a suggestion. It is God’s command! Those Scriptures tell us that only time will bring about the results we desire. 

·         Those teens that drive us to distraction will eventually mature, but it will take time. 

·         A marriage characterized by powerful love and deep intimacy only emerges with years of patience.

·         Proficiency in some skill we are learning demands time and practice. Nobody becomes a concert pianist overnight! 

I was amused by a recent promotion on a Christian radio station.  A book titled something like “30 Days to Becoming the Christian You Want to Be” promised to make the reader a fully equipped Christian in one month if they would read for ‘just 15 minutes each day.’  Impossible! The likeness of Jesus Christ is produced in us over years – through study of the Bible, worship, prayer, and walking with the Spirit through life.  

The most difficult waiting is for justice. When we are wronged, when others misuse or abuse us, when we do right and things go wrong; we want to set it right now, don’t we?  Sometimes the pain seems too much to bear, the frustration makes us miserable.  God counsels patience. "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil." (Psalm 37:7-8, NIV)  Don’t confuse ‘being still’ with being passive!  Jesus taught us to "always pray and not give up." (Luke 18:1, NIV)  Our choice in times of waiting is not surrender to circumstances.  Instead, we submit to God!  We carry our plea to Him. We receive the gracious gift of faith from Him, and we learn to wait on Him.  The supernatural result is something that defies logic.  The word from the Word I leave with you today describes it.  May this be ours in abundance as we learn the wisdom of waiting.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7, NIV)  Supernatural peace! It is possible even in life’s seasons of waiting.  Praise Him.

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It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river

Attendeth my way

When sorrows

Like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot

Thou hast taught me to say

It is well

It is well with my soul

Tho' Satan should buffet

Tho' trials should come

Let this blest assurance control

That Christ has regarded

My helpless estate

And hath shed His own blood

For my soul

It is well with my soul

It is well

It is well with my soul

Horatio G. Spafford | Philip Paul Bliss

Public Domain

Confirmed Reservations Made

Confirmed Reservations Made

Good morning! I am sitting at Gate 8 in Little Rock, Arkansas as I jot my thoughts today.  I remember when, as a student, flying with ‘stand-by’ status.  On the way home from college, I would go to the airport with the hope of finding an empty seat on a plane which allowed me to travel at much reduced rate. It seemed like an adventure then, but I can’t imagine traveling that way today. It’s good to know that I’ll on Flight 2235 in seat 12C in about 30 minutes, headed for home this afternoon.

Some people apparently believe they're going to go to heaven on a stand-by basis. They make no advance reservations, pay little attention to their spiritual life. Somehow, when they appear at the gates of Glory there will be a home awaiting. The stakes are too high for 'hope so, could be' thinking. No wonder so many fear death with such intense dread. Death for me holds no terrors. Sure, I'm not exactly gleeful over the process of dying, but once the transit from earth to glory is made, I have no fear. Why? Because, I have a confirmed reservation, purchased by the willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ, made available to me by His amazing grace. 


Like Paul, I can say, "I know in Whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I've entrusted to Him..."  The Word makes this promise to those who live in faith - "So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever." (Hebrews 9:11-12, NLT)
"He secured our salvation forever!"  Do you have a secure reservation?  We can enter into eternal life, right here, right now. We don't have to wait to die to see if there is room in the Father's house for us. We need not be anxious about our inevitable trip beyond the skies. He, at His own expense, purchased our salvation and gives us life, eternal and full! The ticket is issued, paid in full. These words of Jesus are too often reserved just for funerals, but they are really words to live by. He said, "In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3, NIV)

Salvation is not just about 'getting into Heaven.' Some mistakenly think that praying a prayer to receive Christ, a prayer affirming their hope in Him, is the whole thing wrapped up and done in one little package. Wrong! Being 'saved' is as much about how we live now as it is about going to Heaven. When Christ purchases a reservation for eternity for us it comes with a high and holy calling to become Kingdom people, responsible for extending the reign of God here on earth. We are commissioned to 'go into all the world' and preach - both with words and actions - the goodness of God. Like Abraham of old, we realize that we are looking forward to a city not built with human hands, and we begin to live differently, focused on the values of Heaven, even as we live here on earth.  

I want to be one of those Christians who brings a little bit of Heaven down to earth, don't you? I want people to sense the Presence of God in me, to catch a bit of the fragrance of Heaven when I pass by. And, as I walk in the Spirit, with a heart that is already at home in God's house,  that will happen.

Here's a word from the Word for you today. Believe it and live! "... because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. God’s purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God." (Ephesians 1:11-14, NLT)

Got your ticket? If not, confirm your reservation for Heaven today, right now.

"Get the Credit You Deserve"

“Get the credit you deserve”

The fast-talking salesman in the radio commercial made his pitch to those who ‘needed’ a car but who had a bad credit history. He closed with the line, “get the credit you deserve.”  A loan is not a right, but there is a sense that we are entitled to one anyway.  A person can have made terrible decisions, overspending in the past, and still he ‘deserves’ to have a financial company trust him with its money.  She may have a low-paying job or have had her credit score wrecked by some disastrous set of circumstances, yet she ‘deserves’ a loan.  What a world we live in.  A good credit score is not a right.  It is earned by a combination of hard work and good fiscal management. (Yes, I know, fortunate circumstances are needed, too.)

I wonder how many of us come to the Lord with the same mindset? “Lord, give me the blessings I deserve!”  Oh, I doubt most of us would be so crass as to pray in exactly those terms, but many of us do have a sense that He owes us. He doesn’t. As painful as it may be to accept, the Scripture says that we are "by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3, NIV)  The Psalm says "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." (Psalm 51:5, NIV)  (By the way, that is not saying his mother was sinful for having sex!) The truth is that we are born in sin, our very nature corrupt, our inevitable bent is rebellion, our destiny is destruction. We deserve nothing.  That is not the END of the story, however.  I love the divine conjunction that offsets the terrible indictment.  "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!)" (Ephesians 2:4-5, NLT)   I deserved nothing, HE gave me everything.  This is why we worship Him, why we love Him.  

Grace is meaningless to the person who thinks he deserves something.  Ask any parent of an adolescent what she finds among the most frustrating things of parenting and she will talk about the sense of entitlement that is so prevalent in our age. 

·         That ride to a friend’s house at the busiest time of day?  You owe it to me. 

·         The latest video game? I deserve it. 

·         A car? Well, of course, you’re buying me, aren’t you?  And, make sure it’s not too old!

 Such an attitude produces little in the way of appreciation. 

Are we coming to God with this same attitude? If so, singing of His grace will be of little meaning.  Our prayers will show little adoration (or submission, for that matter) because like spoiled kids, we believe He is blessed just to have us around!

I once knew little of His grace. Raised in a Christian home, my parents protected me from major failures in my early life. A combination of fear and respect kept me from drug use, drunkenness, or sleeping with my girlfriend!  Like the Pharisees whose self-righteousness earned such scorn from Jesus, I was adept at religious games. I knew the right words, said the creed, and looked great from the outside. Only with the dawn of adulthood did I have to face up to the ugliness of my heart’s depravity. No, I wasn’t an adulterer or a thief.  I was proud; critical, rebellious towards authority, and confident in my own goodness. That’s a combination that makes for one loveless person! And, I was.  I looked down on those poor souls who “just couldn’t get it together.”   But as my sinfulness became obvious, my life collapsed.  In that season of life the God of Grace became my true Savior.  No wonder that every time I read the letter to the Ephesians which speaks of His loving grace, I find myself in tears.  They are not born of regret, but of wonder, of worship, of amazement that He would love a sinner such as I!

Are you trying to claim credit with Him that you think you deserve? Think again!  Read this passage again. I pray that it will cause you to worship in humility and with great joy.  

" And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:12-14, NIV)

"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—" (Ephesians 2:6-8, NIV)  "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10-12, NIV)  

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10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)

You're rich in love and You're slow to anger

Your name is great and Your heart is kind

For all Your goodness I will keep on singing

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

Bless the Lord O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

Jonas Myrin | Matt Redman

© 2011 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Bent, Broken, but not beyond Restoration

I stood admiring the car that was more than 60 years old. I saw the ‘before’ and the ‘after.’ It had just been towed in from the barn where it had sat for decades the first time I saw it. The paint was dull with spots of rust. The upholstery was ripped, the window latches broken. The engine ran, but the transmission was gone. A year later, there it was, gleaming with a new coat of paint, looking like it did in a showroom long ago. The owner raised the hood and started the engine. It ran smoothly. Believe it or not, he had completed a 3000 mile long trip with it!

During my lifetime, I have met people who were broken, too. Some were abused as kids, others battered by husbands. Some had become addicted to drugs, others enslaved by sexual desire burning out of control. There were those incapable of loving deeply. And, I have seen those same people restored to whole beauty, transformed by an encounter with Christ Jesus. We are all bent, broken; but we are not beyond redemption! One of the hardest truths to face is the one that teaches us that "compiled this long and sorry record as sinners ... and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us." (Romans 3:23, The Message) It’s hard to admit that the world is broken. We hope that tomorrow will be different, that this person will not hurt us, that the Curse will not show its ugliness. We try to ignore the evidence of evil, divert our attention with trinkets and pleasures, or anesthetize our pain with entertainment. Sometimes we just give up on life, allowing ourselves to grow distant from our family and friends in bitter cynicism!

God offers a new way. He says that we can look at the ugliness of hatred, admit to our own failings, weep over our depravity - and find the promise of renewal in Him. "What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!" (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT) Conversion is not the end, but only the beginning. The Spirit of God comes on us when we respond to God’s call with faith, but the process is just beginning. From the inside out, we are being changed. The Lord says, "I will take away your stubbornness and make you eager to be completely faithful to me. You will want to obey me and all my laws and teachings. You will be my people, and I will be your God." (Ezekiel 11:19-20, CEV)

It’s not an easy road! The Devil seeks to sabotage and destroy every good thing God does in our world and in us. But, we take hold of His promise that He “is greater than he that is in this world.” God has spoken: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son." (Revelation 21:6-7, NIV)

Bent, broken by life and the sin in yourself and/or those who live around you?
There is a Redeemer, God’s own Son. Let Him restore the beauty God meant for your life.

Here’s a restoration prayer from the Word. "Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness." (Psalm 51:9-14, NIV)