Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Swimming Soon.

Do you remember when you were 5 years old, mom announcing that later in the day you were all going to the swimming pool? Time stopped and nothing else mattered except for when the big hand was on the 6 and the small hand was on the 2. The minutes turned into what felt like centuries. Each time you passed the clock your feet began to drag a little bit more in disappointment as you saw that those stupid hands weren't moving at the speed you expected and needed them to.

And so began our lack of patience and trust. Yet, only growing into grander situations and demands as life moved forward. And the waiting turns from a couple of hours to days, months, or even years.

You keep asking, Why hasn't this come through yet? Have I not been patient long enough? I deserve to see this change! I deserve to be in a better situation! How much longer?

Perhaps your working for a company that belittles their employees and gives no mercy or appreciation.

Maybe you and your spouse have been seeking counseling, hoping for the radical change that will set your love on fire once again.

Maybe you keep failing the one class that holds you back from graduating college. 

Or maybe everyday is filled with sorrow and tragedy; you're waiting for the day you can wake up and not have to wonder if something else is going to happen.

Whatever it is, your patience is running thin. Your trust in the possibility of change or saving is depleting into anger and depression.

You find yourself looking up to the heavens and asking, Why Lord? Why have you not delivered me?  Regardless that your faith is in Him or not.

You'd take the waiting a few hours to go swimming over the dry desert which appears to have no end in sight.

I know all about the dry desert. About waking up in the mornings, looking at the time, and already wishing the day was over because the patience is gone and the hope of anything good coming from the day is sucked dry. God, I figure that since You have not come through yet, You won't. And so the days became no different then prior, and the mask you wear to hide it all, begins to fit nicely in place; broke-in and comfortable.

Why do we lose patience so easily?

Is it because we see a world that takes matters into their own hands? 

This isn't working right so I'll simply build it bigger and better.

I can buy this to fill the void in this.

Yet when will the bigger and better be the biggest and the bestest? And what happens when you have it all and yet have less then when you started.

Why can't we be patient on the One who knows our needs and desires?

The big guy and I have been in a season where we have been patiently waiting. Waiting for change, something new, something better, anything. There have been days where I have found myself letting the doubt seep in. Days that he comes home from work and dreads the minutes to pass because he knows it will only bring him closer to another day of oppression. 

And then a phone call.

Change is here! God has answered our prayers! The anticipation and excitement are more than we can bare. The end is so near we can taste it. And it's now that we are shaken awake with the realization that the waiting is not over, and our time to draw nearest to Him is now. Because while we have waited for what seems like eternity, we do not want to act on a quick fix. We don't want our selfishness to get in the way of seeing His way. Our time is His time, and if this time is not provided by Him, but the Serpent who will draw us away, then we will continue in patience. Not to overshadow His personal deliverance. 

The Overshadowing of God's Personal Deliverance


God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally-"...your life shall be as a prize to you..." (Jeremiah 39:38). That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartache, and distress. Having the proper outlook is evidence of the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God's personal deliverance.

The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, "Don't worry about whether or not you are being treated justly." Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, "Why should I be treated like this?" If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we encounter, whether it is just or unjust. In essence, Jesus says, "Continue steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance." Even the most devout among us become atheistic in this regard-we do not believe Him. We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God's name to it. We
do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).

...

Soon we will go swimming.

Until then we will turn to Him every hour, rather the clock on the wall, as to not see if the time is going by at the speed we expect it to.

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