And then waited some more.
Then they hoped and hoped and hoped.
And hoped some more.
How discouraging life must have been. They had been promised something and put their hope in something and saw nothing happen for a very long time. Can you picture going through everyday life with the everyday problems they faced - financial struggles, family struggles, illnesses, death, oppression, desperation, depression, fears, anxieties, government mismanagement and even cruelty – going through all of those things and at the end of the day your hope rested in the saying that had been passed down through the generations ---
A Messiah WILL come……
As the struggles mount, I’m sure the resolve of many began to fade, but they tried to remain faithful and repeated, almost pleading –
A Messiah will COME……
For some, I’m sure the anticipation and pleading became more of a question than a statment -
A Messiah will come???
For over 700 years the people of Israel had been taught that this Messiah, this Savior would come. Isaiah had told them in Isaiah 19:20 “It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.” They hung their hope on the prophecy of a Savior. Their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, as far back as they could remember, had been saying this, but WHEN?
Can you imagine how hopeless some days must have been for them? God was silent. I know that our days sometimes seem hopeless, and the Messiah HAS ALREADY COME! We don’t have to wonder if our hope was in vain, it wasn’t.
I can identify with their waiting in my own little selfish, minuscule way. He did teach me something through their waiting today. Being in ministry is difficult, not only is this blog the way I attempt to minister to others for God, but my husband is in full time ministry as well. There have been many times when I or we have asked God to show us SOMETHING, just SOMETHING, to keep us going, to sustain us, so I cannot imagine going years and years with God being silent. Sometimes you just want to give up. I was talking to my husband tonight about my blog and ministry in general and how sometimes serving in ministry can be so frustrating and I said to him something like this –
“I know God has so much more in mind than what it(this blog) is…. I know because He has shown me things that I know were from Him… But- it’s just stuck. Sometimes I wonder Why did He even show me anything because the waiting is so difficult?”
And I got the answer as soon as I asked the question –
Because You asked Me to. He showed me things because I asked Him to, because I had whined wanting to know what He had in mind, and now I’m complaining about waiting. What do I have to complain about – it’s not like it’s gonna be 700 years.
For God though, as 2 Peter 3:8 puts it “do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
I know the Messiah was sure worth the wait, so I’m sure anything else He has planned will be too, and it will be at “just the right time”. Just as the fulfilling of the promise of a Savior to His people hundreds of years later.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:6
And we get to celebrate His birthday in a few weeks. What a priviledge.
Other than His return, what do you find yourself waiting for?
Royal Princess Daughter Of The King
WOW.
ReplyDeleteI find myself waiting for a sign from our kids sometimes, that they are getting it. That the life God has called us to, to be in the world but not of it, is clicking with them, and that they are understanding. So far, that sign hasnt come in who I'm looking for it to come. A couple things God is constantly reminding me of. a) I'm seeking action from Him, not Him. (this hurts to even type!) He wants my focus to be just Him, not what He can do, or I want Him to do. Just knowing Him... b) Until this weekend, I found myself ignoring the kids who were "getting it" whos precious ears are sensitive, whose desire to pray at their other house where we're not "making them" is occurring, Whose initiating conversations about loving things more than God. So I was discouraged...waiting. The enemy had me where he wanted me. God is so loving to take my cheeks in His hands, and turn my focus back where it needed to be. I couldve missed those all together.
As some of you know I too am waiting on something in my life to change, I have been waiting for years now, and finally glimpses of what I have been praying and waiting for are appearing...with yet a long way to go, I am starting to feel like He has heard my crying and whining and the waiting isn't hurting as much...I am glad to wait on Him to know that someday I hopefully will get to see His end results :)in all of my waiting.-April
ReplyDeleteI find myself waiting and praying for that one true calling or purpose in life. I was looking into adoption (because I so wanted a child of my own) when I got sick and now that seems so far out of reach (have to be cancer free for 5 years before most agencies will even talk to you about adoption). So I prayed, God is this not my path. Maybe it was the path I wanted and not what God had for me. I do charity work and volunteer in the nursery but I still feel like I am wondering aimlessly searching for that "right path". I can so relate to the people of Israel and their sense of wondering "when" and how long must we wait. Hopefully, I don't have to wait 700 years to hear from God about my path. Until then, I will continue to pray and look toward the heavens because I know above all else HE loves me and holds me in the palm of HIS hands.
ReplyDeleteJulia
I can identify with the waiting in many things....waiting for the right timing for some ministry opportunities....waiting to become the person I know in my heart I want to be......waiting for our last little bit of debt to get paid down.....and specifically now, waiting to find out about Chad's health. I think this is God's way of getting us to learn that we can either be miserable in constantly looking ahead and striving to be somewhere else(which will never end) or "Embracing the Journey" as Chad & I have learned to cling to over the years. Enjoying things about right now. "Being content with what you have" right now! (Heb. 13:5). Enjoy the ability & opportunities I have to minister to others today! Enjoy the things God has created in me right now! Enjoy the fact that we have money available to us to pay down debt! Enjoy the health that Chad has right now! It's a daily concious choice to nuture an attitude of contentment. I do think that God gives us a "Holy unrest" so that we do not become complacent, but it is Satan who then takes over and wears us out with it. He takes everything that God means for good and makes it bad. The only way I've found to combat it is DAILY renewal of the mind in God's precious word. And surrounding myself with people who will remind me of those things instead of joining my pity party. If I miss even a day or two in the Word, my attitude is immediately affected. Lord, may we be like Paul when he penned, "I have leanred to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Phil. 4:11-13)
ReplyDeleteBrittany
Julia - you are a very special woman of God and once you see what His plan is for you, it will fuel you like nothing ever has. I can't explain to you what I mean other than to use those words, but once you see it, touch it, taste it, NOTHING else will satisfy like the fulfilling the purpose He has. I see a huge gift and opportunity within your "availability", He will do marvelous things through someone who is available.
ReplyDeleteWaiting...
ReplyDeleteI too have found a lot of discouragement in doing my site and in ministry. One of the biggest struggles is waiting for a response.. a comment, or a reply. Most days there is nothing. I guess the biggest reason why I would like to see a comment or a response, is acknowledgment that I am not crazy. That's I haven't lost my mind. Maybe to know that someone else is just as passionate about their relationship with Christ. To confirm that what I write makes sense.
Then this scripture comes to me in 2 Corinthians 11:23 that validates that not only have I lost my mind, but that I am out of my mind for Christ.
I'm not sure if you are familiar with Oswald Chambers, but he only wrote 3 books during his lifetime. He received little to no recognition for anything he wrote. After he died his wife compiled all of his notes, sermons, letters, and had them published.
Where was his focus? Read through a few pages of Utmost for His Highest and I find without a doubt, he only sought after Christ. His focus was the relationship he had with Him.
Oswald Chambers lived a life completely abandoned for God. Am I writing to please man, or God?
So even as I read through your post God continues to work in my heart. I've found myself waiting for those passing moments of a comment here and there, instead of focusing on God alone.
I'm waiting. But for what? After examining my heart, I end up with more questions than answers. I find myself clinging to this verse with the realization that the appropriate time, may be whenever I am in heaven:
So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. - Galatians 6:9