He’s In The Waiting
I’m at a bit of an awkward point in my life. I haven’t quite finished college (my Bachelors, but hope to get a PHD or D. Min eventually), I intern at my church (with the hopes of employment), I’m single (hoping for marriage), and feel like I’m behind where I should be at this point in my life. By my age, some people are married with kids, have full time careers that they’re thriving in, and then there’s little old me, waiting for when it’ll be my time to receive what others get seemingly so freely. Thinking that if I keep up with my Bible reading plan, read some Dallas Willard and church fathers, pray for others, and do some nice things that I’ll one day be blessed just like my friends. All the while forgetting God cares much more about who I was becoming rather than what I was doing (He cares about both).
As you’re reading along, I hope the stories shared will inspire you to begin caring for the way in which you’re being formed by God and for God over the long haul of your life rather than just counting the accomplishments, accolades, and life achievements you may get along the way.
THERE IS NO TIMELINE
I’ve had somewhat of an idea for what I thought my life would turn out like once I hit 13 or so. So far, almost nothing has gone to plan. Not college, not my career, not relationships, not even my walk with God. Yet there’s been beauty in it all. I believed that because there was a mold that most people followed, I had to follow along or I would be deemed as a failure. We all generally know what it is. Go to college, graduate, meet someone along the way, get married, have kids, and live happily ever after. When I saw that my life didn’t even resemble that, I started to question God. I would think things like, “I thought you cared about me”, “When will it finally be my turn”, or the best one, “Don’t you want me to be happy too?” I was equating what I had envisioned the good life to be for what God had deemed as good and necessary for my complete and utter joy. I had read about things like this in the Bible like with the prodigal son and his brother in Luke 15.
A brother envious because of misperceptions about where his Father truly placed his affections. The lie wasn’t that God had loved the older brother less than the prodigal, the lie was believing that just because He blessed the prodigal differently, He had any less love or affection for him. The brother (and quite frankly me) believed that a blessing to someone else meant less blessings for me. The God of the Bible isn’t one who is scarce and soon to run out of good, but He’s a God of abundance who spills out of the eternal well that he holds within himself. God never runs out because He is the origin and creator of all.
Within this I hope you remember that God is not neutral towards you. He sees your every step, He’s heard your prayers, knows the longings you have for your life, and is preparing for you everything that you need for a life of joy, gratitude, thanksgiving, and long suffering. Because a life with God is better than a life apart from Him. “What good is it to gain the whole world but lose your soul?” Mark 8:36
WHO YOU’RE BECOMING
While I’ve made clear that the things you do or achieve aren’t the foundation of who you are, the way that you live is indicative of the kind of fruit you’ll produce. If the daily habits of your life consist of social media when you rise until you set out for school or work, Netflix (or the superior HBO Max) for two hours once you get home to relax, and only five minutes spent reading a verse of the day, your soul may be thirsting for more. None of the things I said before are bad or wrong, they’re morally neutral, but if the way we spend our time is an indicator in what our hearts cherish, it may be time to reprioritize some things in the schedule. Not because of some legalistic way of thinking or trying to behave, but because Jesus has called us to a life of holiness, unfettered devotion, and supreme joy found in his ways. What I’m about to call you to isn’t original to me, they’re just some practices or formations that I’ve found to be helpful in my walk with the God in whom my soul loves and who loves me too.
Prayer. Prayer is the path towards a presence with God in the darkest and sweetest hours of your life. Prayer is the invitation from God to enter into his divine presence feeling rested, heard, and loved by God. No matter the circumstances or emotions you go through, prayer to the God who sees you is always waiting for you at every moment, reminding you of His grace and sufficiency that holds you up day by day, hour by hour, and second by second.
Bible. A knowledge and understanding of God comes from delving into the very words he’s left for you and I. With an understanding of the scriptures comes an understanding of who God has disclosed himself to be. In the psalms, we see a man who weeps, rejoices, ponders life, and asks God questions some of us would consider off limits. In lamentations we see that a life of temporal pleasures will all come to an end and the eternal pleasures of God are the only things that will last. In the book of Judges we see a people who “do what is right in their own eyes” and come to ruin because of their abandonment of God’s eternal truth. In the Gospels we see God take on flesh with all of its limitations, live a life just like ours yet without sin, befriend the weary and the destitute, and die on our behalf so that we would receive the life that he’s experienced with God for all of eternity. An entrance into the divine joy that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have experienced even before the creation of the world.
Rest. This may sound odd, but it is a good and holy thing to rest. When we rest we acknowledge that we aren’t in control, God is the sustainer of all things, and that He knows best. In Genesis we see God rest (or sabbath) during His making of creation. But here’s the beauty in it: the very day that God rested, is the same day in which mankind enters into. Upon the creation of mankind, they enter into this blissful state of rest with God. Their first day in the world doesn’t involve working, hustling, or creating for the sake of others, but it’s an entrance into divine rest with God.
We do the disciplines God has given us for the purposes of becoming like Him. Reading the Bible isn’t meant for just pure head knowledge, it’s done so that the words of scripture would seep into our souls and transform the way we speak, behave, and treat our fellow image bearers. We all long to be people who are joy-filled, patient, kind, gentle, and more because the person who perfectly epitomizes all of those traits is the one who we adore with our entire being. We strive after Jesus because we all have one thing in common, we will all become what we behold, and what better thing to fix our gaze upon than the one who is lovely in all He is and does.
As you were reading this, my prayer is that you would gain a sense of hope. A hope because no matter where you are in life, God isn’t concerned with what you’ve accomplished. He’s much more interested in the person you’re being formed into day-in and day-out. Whether you become a millionaire by becoming the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or you become a teller at the local bank, or you make smoothies at Jamba Juice, know that God is with you through it all encouraging you through His Spirit to become a person of great love for the sake of others and from a love of God. Blessings.