The Waiting

 

Now of this one thing you are not to be oblivious, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.  

Peter To The Dispersion (2) 3: 8, Concordant New Testament 

Outside the old church I used to attend someone had once erected a bronze statue of a majestic eagle.  Why an eagle?  Well, as the scripture proclaims, those that wait on the Lord shall mount up with wings like eagles {Isaiah 40:31}.  Anyone who has ever gone through a positive or difficult season in their lives knows the importance of waiting and being patient.  I myself have been reminded of this in the past month.  Yet, as the crooner Tom Petty once sang, "The waiting is the hardest part."  I recall many a church goer agonizing over the prospect of waiting for the Lord to intervene in any given situation.  It seems that we at one time glorify the concept of waiting on the Lord, yet when the rubber meets the road we agonize over it.  Why is that?  I believe that it all goes back to the lie which the deceiver instilled in Adam and Eve in the garden.  It is Satan who convinced Eve that she indeed could partake of the tree which the Lord God had commanded them not to eat of, that being the tree of the knowledge of good and evil {Genesis 1:17}.  The consequences of partaking of this tree, according to the Lords warning, was death.  Yet the deceiver convinced Eve that she if she was to eat of the forbidden fruit, that she "Would not surely die," but that "The day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" {Genesis 3:1-5}.  As they say, the rest is history.  What followed was the expulsion from the garden for the Lords creation, and the opening up of sin in man.  Indeed, we would need to wait a very long time before Jesus cried out on that cross "It is finished!"  With that, sin was put to death.  But the waiting for that moment?  I've come to the conclusion that as much as we are told to remain patient and to wait upon the Lord, we don't like it.  Why?  Because we desire to live our own life, that's why.  We want our life on our terms.  THAT is the very definition of the lie of the deceiver!  That we can be separate from the Lord who created us.  Don't be deceived, when scripture speaks to us of waiting on God, we are indeed waiting IN HIM.  

Now when the full time came, God delegates His Son, come of a woman, come under law. 

Paul To The Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

To understand completely how it is that we are indeed waiting in the Lord, we must first understand the relationship which we share with Him.  Contrary to institutional church teaching, there is NO separation between ourselves and God.  God has been an intimate part of our life ever since He breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  But what about God banishing Adam and Eve from the garden?  Yes, there were consequences for following the lie of the deceiver.  The trouble is, many clueless believers continue to follow that lie even today.  The apostle Paul spoke of the truth of the indwelling Christ in us in Galatians {Paul To The Galatians 2:20}.  This was not something unique to only Paul, but is the evidence of our life in Christ.  And if we live in Christ Jesus, then we wait in Him as well.  I feel that many Christians treat the verse of waiting on the Lord as if they are alone.  We're far from alone in this life.  For many years, waiting on the Lord meant a struggle to me.  For when I waited upon the Lord, I waited for One who was far off to come and deliver me.  Now I realize that I could have avoided a lot of undue stress had I known the relationship which I share with the Lord.  Indeed, for the Lord a day is like a thousand years.  Waiting on Him can seem like a difficult proposition in a microwave speed world.  Yet when we come to know that we wait IN the Lord, it is His comfort which surrounds us.  

~Scott~