Hope

Acting on the Waiting

Most of the time we associate waiting with inactivity. It’s a passive thing that we do in between the bouts of the “real stuff” of life. When we want to go on a ride at Disneyland, we wait. When we are hungry, we wait for the food to be prepared. When we eager for an answer, we wait until we receive it.

Scripture, however, makes it clear that waiting on the Lord is something proactive. When we don’t know where to go, we wait for Him to tell us. This isn’t downtime – this is time to reexamine whether our full trust is in Him. This is the time where we cast our burdens – a very active event – because we know He will sustain us. We give Him our cares and we take on His yoke because we know He loves us and His yoke is light.  This is where our strength is renewed, and through His strength we rise up as on eagle’s wings.

The reason all of this is true is because during our time of waiting, God is still working. Isaiah 64:4 makes this clear when it states:

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you,

who acts for those who wait for Him. (emphasis added.)

We’re waiting – God’s doing the work. He’s arranging details, aligning plans, and making provisions to give His children exactly what they need. He’s working things out for His intended purpose – for our good and His glory – even when it seems like nothing is happening at all.

And no one can do greater things than our God. So while we wait, we also hope  for we know He is good, He is mighty, and He has a plan.

How have you seen God work while you wait?

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Hope

Obscured View

As I’ve previously written about, I have a long drive to work. Thankfully,I like to drive and God doesn’t let these extended times spent on the road go to waste. He often uses them to teach me things about Himself and about the Christian life. It is no mistake that the Christian life is often compared to a journey for there is much about a significant time spent traveling that equates to the time we spend on this Earth walking with God.

Since the seasons have started to change (a subtle occurrence in Southern California, to be sure), there is now the greater possibility that my morning commute will be peppered with fog. Usually, the sun is breaking through so the condense air is nothing more than a pretty filter for the bright rays of light. Sometimes, however, the fog is heavy and it makes seeing what’s in front of me a challenge. Even the car that just passed me, can be difficult to see within a few seconds.

One unexpected outcome of this is that the fog can make my familiar journey seem strange. The landscape and the signs that I’m used to seeing our hidden from my view, and therefore the road appears to be a different one. I will be heading towards my exit, and have to check and make sure that it is the right path  to take because all my suroundings look different. Even though I know the way, the fog makes it seem unfamiliar. It takes that which I know to be true, and makes me think twice about it.

Sometimes we let the foggy teachings of this world do the same to us. We start off on our familiar journey with God, but we let the heavy air obscure our sight. It appears to change the path that we’re on, even though it is in fact, the one that God has called us to walk.  We wonder if we’re heading the right direction because we can’t see the familiar signs and settings. Not because they aren’t there, but because we are letting other considerations – our thoughts, feelings, and desires – hide them from us.

Yet when we are on the right path – when we are walking where God has called us to walk – the fact that our view is hazy shouldn’t prevent us from our journey. After all, He is above the fog – and He still sees the journey that we’re walking. Instead we need to do what I do on my morning commute – drive through the fog and continue down the path He’s called us to  The things that cloud our view that aren’t from God need to be dismissed – much like the morning fog fades in the light of day.

If the foggy things of this life are obscuring our view – we need to keep moving forward – knowing that for His children the fog is temporary, but the path He has us on leads to eternity.

 

Why does the fog of this life impact our walk with God? How can we prevent it from doing so?

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