Being Content Hope

Missing Out

As a kid, I distinctly remember hoping that Jesus didn’t return before certain milestones had been reached in my life.

  • – I wanted to be an adult.
  • – I wanted to be married.
  • – I wanted to be a mom.

While I knew intellectually that Christ’s return would fill me with great joy, I felt that I would be missing out on other things if He returned “prematurely” – at least from my perspective. It was as if I put the joy of Christ’s return into a “spiritual” category and while I knew it would be great, it wouldn’t be like all those other things.

And I was right.

Sort of.

The joy of Christ’s return won’t be like all those other things – it will be so much greater. It’s in such a different category of wonderfulness that it can’t even be compared to those good things on this Earth that I so cherish. I neglected to see that those things, while good, are poor representations of how good it will be when I am with my Savior. I shouldn’t be wanting those things, and then Christ’s return. Instead, I should be focused on the day that I’m with Him.

In truth, regardless of when I see Him, whether because He returns or because He calls me home, there will doubtless be things on this Earth that I was looking forward to. But I won’t be feeling the pain of missing those things. Instead, what I will be  “missing out” on are the sorrows of this world, the sin that so easily entangles, and relationships that while good, are subject to fractures. And I will be celebrating the dearth of these things and rejoicing in their antithesis. The things that I am “missing out” on will be cause for joy. And I will experience the greater joy of being with my King.

And ultimately, that’s what I should be looking forward to anyway.

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Being Content

Time Well Wasted

As a planner, I’m not one that does well with inefficiencies. I like to “have a plan and then work the plan” knowing that not only am I maximizing my effort, but the time that I spend towards a particular goal. Life, however, doesn’t always conform to my plan. Sometimes, I may not know exactly what God is leading me towards. Or He may have made it clear what lies in my future, but hasn’t yet provided the means or the opportunity to get there. It can feel like time is wasting away.

However, I’ve learned that waiting time is not wasted time in God’s economy. It may seem like I’m wandering in a desert, but He’s using the time in the wilderness just as much as He’s using the time in the promise land. It’s not just the destination that He’s interested in, but the path that He has me on to get there.

Perhaps there’s no greater example of this in the Bible then Joseph. Here was a man whose time was “wasted” as an errand boy for his unworthy brothers, as a slave to an Egyptian master with an unjust wife, and again as a wrongfully-accused prisoner. Yet through all of this God was providing him with the understanding of Himself, the wisdom to interpret dreams, the work ethic to manage resources wisely, and other qualities that were needed for him to save not only the Egyptians from the coming famine, but his own family as well. What Joseph could have easily seen as wasted time, God used for His own glory, and for Joseph’s benefit.

It’s something that’s been true in my own life, and in the lives of loved ones as well. I remember my dad telling me how looking back he could see that the series of job losses and odd jobs he endured were all used to prepare him for the job that he eventually had where God used him to help protect soldiers and nations. His unique set of skills that were developed along the way couldn’t have been taught in a classroom or acquired in one single position;  he had to go through the time of transition in order to be successful where God would eventually plant him. God used the waiting time to not only prepare him, but to bring him to his future.

It’s easy to get discourage while we wait. But it helps to know that for God the waiting time is not wasted time. He will use it. For His glory, and for our benefit.

 

For country music fans, yes, the time of the post is a tribute to the Brad Paisley song by the same name [affiliate link].

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