Ever felt like you should be farther along by now? The picture does not look like what the promises of God say we can have… according to our interpretation. I thought by this point the vision would be clearer. I thought by this point, the table would have been set and the second course of the meal would be on its way out. I thought by this point, I would have left one place and would have settled in another. I thought there would be more, that it would be bigger, that I would be self-sufficient, and that I would be doing less now and not more.
It’s easy to obsess over the feeling that you are going nowhere. We live in tension when we are contending for a dream or a promise from God, while simultaneously living in a reality that is not what we want it to be. Jesus lived inside the tension of purpose and process too. I told Josh recently that contending for our promise and walking it out when the landscape doesn’t look like what we thought is hard. We are driven to expedite the process at the expense of experience. Process takes time. We want quick results. I want to see a transformation after one trip to the gym. I want to see pounds lost after I stop eating gluten or sugar for a day or two. Let’s keep it real, friends! We want the easy button and express check- out. Eugene Peterson says “Hurry is a form of violence practiced on time. “ What is it that time does for us anyway?
Time has a way of revealing our intentions.
When we are willing to wait on something, our hearts are proven. Jacob worked seven years to get to marry Rachel, was tricked by her father and worked another seven. Jacob worked 14 years just to marry a girl he loved. Think about how much that revealed to Rachel and her father about Jacob’s commitment and his intentions. I bet Rachel didn’t second guess if Jacob would have run out on their marriage after a disappointment or rough patch after his amazing display of honor for her hand. I bet Rachel knew she could trust him. I bet Rachel fell more in love with him because of the postponement. I bet Laban respected Jacob all the more.
Process helps us lose the inches of self and the world- and those subtle changes take time.
Can we just love God and trust the process? Can we be content with the here and now? Obedience is key when we are walking out promises. Obedience shows God that we trust Him. Obedience means I can follow God’s lead even when I am not sure of the outcome. I can trust Him when it's hard, and even though it doesn’t make sense to me. Are we willing to wait on the Lord’s hand? If God were Rachel and I was Jacob, would I be willing? We need to turn our focus to what is happening in me rather than what is happening to me or not happening. Randall Worley says that “tragically the purpose that is growing inside each one of us is often stillborn- not due to illegitimacy but to premature delivery. We must learn to be patient.” When I think about how I stomp my feet and want it now, it makes me sad. I have missed the bigger and more important lesson Jesus is trying to teach me when I act this way. There is a maturity that is happening when we wait. Jesus has all of us in his careful hands. The wait time in your process is not a punishment- but a purposed, prescribed time that will lead to promotion. He will not send you to the interview to change your destiny unprepared. This is what is happening to you in the waiting- you are being enlarged- you are maturing.
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
Romans 8:22-28 (The Message)
Can we all agree that by this point, the joy of loving Jesus is enough? Can we all agree that by this point, whether the “promise” or dream happens, He is enough? Can we get to the point that even if what I want does not happen, serving Him where I am is my honor? Is living my life to the glory of his name really what I want, or do I want it on my terms and not His? Can we all agree that by this point, no matter what it looks like- I can acknowledge that He is at work and He is hemming in all the details of our process from every side? Can we all agree that by this point, we can acknowledge that the greater the purpose in your life, the more drawn out the process is? Do not be mad at him friends for the wait, instead, thank Him for the invitation to wonder.