June 5, 2012
“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14 New American Standard
Waiting is one of God’s favorite assignments. It’s one of his open secrets. Waiting on the Lord is not about being inactive .. unconcerned .. or casual. It is the serious business of finding your true strength in Christ and being clothed in His Life. That usually runs into conflict in this hurried instant world we live in. Waiting takes time .. valuable time by any measure. And yet waiting is exactly how Jesus describes God as he waits for us to come home or to open our stubborn hearts to something new when we’ve grown narrow and shortsighted through our exhausting self efforts. Waiting is the last thing we want to do. But waiting on the Lord is about having the Holy Spirit re-align our hearts to find strength in the “center of God’s love”. It takes the indwelling life of Christ to find the strength and courage to wait upon the Lord. You don’t have it in yourself to find such strength. You find it in Christ. Jesus showed us what “waiting” looks like in action: early morning prayer .. blessing a few loaves and fishes .. doing only what He saw His Father doing .. washing feet on the eve of his death .. and cooking breakfast on the shore. He could have been “doing” so much more. More activities .. more ministry .. more followers .. more miracles .. and just more. If you’ve ever despaired you know what a crushing weight it becomes. You can’t see any goodness. Everything just looks bad. The hardest seed of faith to hold onto during everyday trials is: God is good. Everything around you will conspire to distract you .. divert you .. and drive you away from waiting upon the Lord. You don’t dig deep to find it. You wait by opening your life to Jesus. It’s always an action that is met with rolling eyes .. cynical minds .. and impatience. Why? Because waiting is God’s deep business of meeting you in the center of your life with His Son. And it only takes a moment …
“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life.” Jude 20-21 The Message
Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Men and Women learning the holy business of waiting in Christ and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)
