Be Ready and Doing

Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
Matthew 24:42-44(New American Standard Bible)

Just because you do not know what the future holds, you should not wait your way into the future; you should do your way into the future. You wait for the Lord, but you do life. A work has been begun in you in Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6), so God is clearly working on you, and in this life, you need to continue working for Him. You are waiting for Him, but you are not waiting for life. It is happening around you and there are people in your life (careful or you may trip over them) that so desperately need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Scripture speaks of doing a servant's work (Matthew 25:14-30), of doing works of mercy and love in His name (Matthew 25:40). Scripture speaks of waiting for the return of Jesus.

Scripture speaks of waiting, but I do not see anywhere where it says to wait around doing nothing.


Technorati Tags: Jesus, God, waiting, doing, Gospel

The Suddenness of a Long Wait Over

("Behold, I am coming like a thief Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.")
Revelation 16:15 (NASB)

I like the parenthetical nature of this passage, it is an aside to the reader, a warning directly from the Lord Himself. He is coming quickly, do not get caught with your pants down as it were, or you may trip and fall.

When I think about what He is doing in my life, I stand in awe of how suddenly He can make things happen, even if I think I an standing around in some quiet, dark place. It may feel I have been seeking Him and coming up empty, then I realize the quietness was Him preparing me for the task He had already decided. After what I think is some rather fruitless waiting, He enters into my focus with stunning suddenness. And I realize I have missed seeing things coming together. it was not quiet, I was deaf to the sounds of His preparation. It was not dark, I was blind to the growing light of His activities. Suddenly, He is captivating my awakening thoughts, honing my senses to His will. And it inspires a sense of awe in my life. He was always there, standing next to me, even the times I reached out and missed touching Him, maybe especially those times, for He wanted me near Him as He was near me.

Dear Lord, come quickly.


Technorati Tags: Jesus, awe, God, waiting

Keeping Busy

As you might have been able to tell from the frequency of my blog posts lately, I have been busy and it has cut into my blogging time quite a bit. The old me (the pre-summer blogging hiatus me) would have obsessed on this, the new me says, it is what it is, and that is all it can ever be.

Having been retired for nearly two years now, it is a novelty to feel as if one's schedule is full, and still filling. Lots going on, but there is a definite peace to it. I attribute a good deal of it to my focus on listening and waiting on God. People and projects are not filling my schedule, He is. And I am OK with that, even more so, this is what I wanted.

The study we have been doing at 121 Community Church on Experiencing God has helped me really keep one thought in front of me.

Wait.

So I do, waiting for His direction and guidance. And waiting contains a control issue, as in giving up control of your life to God. I have never been much of one to wait on things. But that is what I am doing now, waiting and allowing Him to work His will.

It can feel incredibly fruitful and productive to wait on God, because waiting on Him means just that: waiting for God to move, waiting to follow where He is going, trying to keep up. What can be better than that? Chasing after God's heels because He is out in front with your captured heart in His hands. But waiting for Him to start that heart of yours racing.

So I wait, busily wait, doing what I think He wills, waiting for the next God sized program He will have me pursue with Him. And soon I get to do this with a two week break from classes and a wrap up of another semester at DTS. (Not sure the credit load I am taking qualifies as a semester. Semi-mester is closer to the truth).

Meanwhile, I am learning to enjoy being engaged and waiting at the same time.


Technorati Tags: Experiencing God, 121 Community Church, waiting, busy

Waiting

Recently I was struggling with a problem, tying myself up into knots over it, it involved a couple of friends who are on opposite sides of an argument. Let's just leave it at that. Hearing both sides, seeking what is the truth of the situation (define that what is God's will in the particular set of facts and viewpoints before me); alternately wanting to solve the problem or just wanting it to go away. it was really getting to me.

Praying about it one morning, I heard it softly, yet firmly in my mind. Wait. That was it. Wait.

And the tension bled away from my body and I felt a peace. Wait. Nothing changed about the situation but something changed about my ability to deal with it, to try to solve it. I could not do it, not by myself. Wait.

OK. He has got it, God is in control. Wait. For His timing, for the solution only He can provide.

I still do not know how it will all play itself out, but it is playing even as I write this, even as I wait.

God is in control and that is good because He is good and great.

Wait. I really do not mind it, when I know I am waiting on the Lord.