Waiting

Oh my soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him. Psalm 62:5

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

If I handed you a pencil and paper and instructed you to write down all your expectations for this week… what would you write? How long would you have to think about it before you knew what to put on your list?

Many years ago, frustrated in my relationship with another person, I experienced memorable disappointment.  I did not know what to do about it. Relying on my need to work out an answer that would satisfy me, I was not aware that I relied on my ability to manipulate people, until God held up his holy mirror and stopped me in my tracks! A revealing light brought me to my knees, and in His sweet Presence I wept, but not out of disappointment. It was seeing myself as I am. God’s light revealed my manipulation in all its ugliness, all that was flesh about it. Manipulation is what our osn falls into as we strive to ‘control’ situations and other people. Where is our trust in God in our trials? There is none. Manipulation is another word for ‘unbelief’. That is what broke my heart. Instead of trusting God, to work it out in His time, in His way,  I, in putrid unbelief, grieved my Savior. Where was the waiting?

 After the believer enters into the faith-life, he wonders why it was so difficult for him to understand that it was all of Grace- a humble reception of a finished work. And yet he goes through the faithless struggle once again before he sees that his daily Christian life is also a ‘finished work’, complete in Christ! mjs

Have you ever had success trying to change another person? Moving to the spiritual realm, what is our response to what life has dealt us? Have we grabbed control and told God exactly how He is to answer our prayers? We short circuit waiting on the LORD and replace it with controlling and manipulating to get relief or gain control. We are instructed to ‘wait’ on God. Jesus is the answer to every need and every trial. Waiting requires faith. Waiting requires death to the osn, the flesh. Waiting is hard. It feels like you are not doing all you can. Waiting will always reveal a lack of faith in the One who has never failed or made a mistake.

When people get married they expect the person they wed to make them happy. Instead they find themselves in a constant struggle for control. It began in the garden. We expect our spouses to do and be what we feel is right. We come into the world, with our entitlement list clenched in our small, wet fist. We are born with a self-centered attitude. We may not admit it, but our list is comprehensive: a pain free life. Health. Wealth or win the lottery, control over all that happens to us and others are to serve us. We are here to be happy!

When Corrie ten Boom was asked ‘what’ enabled her to endure the horrors of the concentration camp, she amended, not ‘what’, but ‘Who’.” She then added, “The devil is strong, but his power is limited; Jesus’ power is unlimited.” Jesus sustained Corrie in Ravensbruck. She believed His words, “All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me.”

We unfairly place expectations on others; intentionally or subconsciously. Our attitude is the same as if we were trying to fix everything about them that bothers us! Damaged relationships result in people being handicapped. The feeling of never measuring up, never being good enough, robs us of dignity and fills us with shame. Shame is abrasive, not a positive catalyst to bring about change. Christ gives grace, the freedom to mature in faith and fully surrender to God. God gives us grace and we are to give others grace. Only God is good enough, wise enough, and holy enough to ‘fix’ anyone. Only God can meet our deep need to be loved and have purpose. Only God has power to change us and redeem our wounds and failures. We will know rest and freedom as we surrender our expectations, waiting on Him. But in the waiting is the knowing. Imagine knowing Him more and more intimately! O how He loves you.

A person may easily know his sins are forgiven, but it is a further truth to know that he himself has ‘died to sin’. He finds this conflicts with his experience. Suppose I tell you, a great $ debt you owed was paid by someone, it would not be a question of experience, but of simply believing my statement. Just so with God, He tells us our sins are forgiven, and it is question whether we believe Him. But when He tells us we have died to sin, we look inside and say,

’Ah, sin is still at work; how is that?’ A person must be taught of God to really know the truth that he has died to sin.” JND

 My soul, wait in silence for God alone, because my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and salvation, my stronghold; I won’t be moved.

My safety and honor rest on God. My strong rock and refuge are in God.
Trust in him, people, at all times; pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. (Selah)  Psalm 62:5-8

Doesn’t it just bless your socks off! Let these truths warm your soul and fill you with AWE!  My feet are dancing…

Yeshua, Keeper of my heart, full of grace and Truth, You who are Eternal Light, I am in awe of You. My heart cries “Change me, Lord”. And you gently and tenderly transform me like a silver smith, who heats the metal until it is pure and his reflection can be seen! So You allow our trials to heat our metal, purifying us until the likeness of Jesus can be seen. Establish us in simple faith. And free me from placing unfair expectations on others. It’s grace that humbles us, not our sin. Shame doesn’t move us to change, but Your grace transforms. Thank You for who You are, unchanging, faithful and good. I pray in your Blessed Name of the LORD,

May you be encouraged to ‘wait’ on the One who is waiting for you, list and all. 

  

Much love,

 az