Week 3: Waiting

It is the flaw of our nature to live in a state of waiting for something. The next pay raise, the next car, the recognition of a scholarship, the birth of a baby, the climax of our education, the answer to a question…

            Our culture has driven this flaw in some to unbearable heights, for many to their breaking point. But, like everything, what is now a flaw was once a blessing. Jesus longs to take this drive within us to do something, to accomplish, to succeed, and use it to further his kingdom and his glory throughout the world. 

            The question that changes everything is what is our motivation? When we work, grind, toil, sweat for the accomplishment of our own self-improvement, we are never happy. We never reach a steady pace. We never come to a place of contentment…because lingering on is another goal to be set, another need to be met, another gift to be had.

            When we work and toil for the accomplishment and satisfaction of Jesus Christ there is this surpassing sense of accomplishment embodied with an eternal peace. We know He is pleased, and that pleases us. We know He is made famous, and we feel internally celebrated. This flaw becomes a completed blessing each time again when we have this concrete knowledge that the Lord is pleased with us. That His glory has been made known through us: this tiny, fleeting life, which represents hardly anything compared to an eternity.

            And so the motivation changes entirely from waiting for this next “thing“ to come to pass to waiting on the Lord for all contentment and satisfaction.

            And so as a human, I daily carry the weight of this flaw in my flesh. Today as I meditate on Psalm 39, 7 I pray the Lord will change my motivation from a self-seeking accomplishment to a God-glorifying contentment. I don’t want to wait until I: finish school, get a steady job and save more money, travel to a certain place, witness to a certain person, maintain certain grades…to be content. I want the only thing I am waiting on every day to be my Lord, my King. And I know as He takes that place in my heart and mind, everything else becomes such a joy. When I am satisfied in Him I long to love others with the same love He has given to me. I long to serve those in need and bless those who think they are beyond it. When I am humbled under Him, He raising me to the exact place I was trying so hard to gain on my own.

            Lord keep me humble, I want to wait only for you.

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.“