Scripture:
Romans 8:22-27
Journal:
What are you waiting
for these days? What do you think God is
trying to accomplish in you as a result?
Reflection:
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 u; 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’s 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 the expectancy.
(Romans 8:22-25, The Message)
Waiting is such an interesting phenomenon. It is a spiritual practice that appears to be
passive, yet is more active than we would ever imagine. It is a season in which it seems like nothing
of value is going on, when the truth is that big things are going on we know
nothing about. It is a time when it
looks like God is up to absolutely nothing, when, in actuality, God is doing
something more than we dare ask for or dream about. In fact, it is through seasons of waiting
that God does some of his very best work, if we are careful not to miss the
journey for the destination.
The problem is that we often get so focused on the desired results of
our waiting, we forget that the bigger, more valuable part of waiting may well
involve what God is doing within us as we wait.
That’s the part we miss. And,
yet, it is the only part we can really do anything about—we can pay careful attention.
I think that’s why I like this section on Romans 8 so much. It reminds us that waiting is not as much
static, as it is dynamic. It is always
intended to accomplish something, not only around us, but within us. Through waiting, God is arousing and
enlarging and expanding and growing and stretching us. We just can’t allow ourselves to get so
consumed with what we are waiting for, that we miss what he is trying to accomplish
in us.
It reminds me of the last scene in the movie Field of Dreams. Ray has been on an epic adventure, trying to
figure out what the voices he has been hearing mean and who they have been
leading him to. At first, he thinks the
whole journey is about Shoeless Joe Jackson, and then about Terrance Mann, and
then about Moonlight Graham. Until
finally he recognizes that one of the players playing in his field is his dad,
as a much younger man. And when he
recognizes his dad, he says, “It was you,” thinking that the entire journey had
been about easing his dad’s pain. But no sooner had his the words been spoken,
than Shoeless Joe, standing out by the cornfield responds, “No Ray, it was you.” The whole journey had been about Ray’s
healing all along.
I don’t know about you, but so often, in my waiting, I make the same
mistake. I think the entire thing is
about someone coming around, or something coming about, when what God is really
trying to get me to notice is what he is doing in me as a result of the
waiting.
So today, instead of focusing on that thing or that person or that event
you have been waiting for, focus instead on what God is doing in you as a
result of the waiting.
Prayer
Closing
Prayer: Thank you, O
Lord, that our waiting is never in vain; you are always up to something within
us and around us. Help us to pay careful
attention to what you are up to, so that we never grow weary and lose heart. Amen.
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