In Between
Waiting from moment to moment, stage to stage is part of life. I waited to be old enough to go to school. I waited to grow up and drive a car, wear lipstick, and date. The next thing I waited for impatiently is to marry and have children.
I read in Psalm 27:14, Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. We wait impatiently for life to unfold and reveal our current desires and wishes. This impatience often closes the door on the learning how to love one another with forgiveness, to find joy in righteousness and peace in serving God by living holy lives.
Grieving for our loved ones who have left this earth will not be rushed or hurried. Experiencing loss helps us understand more than our immediate need for comfort. It tunes our hearts to be sensitive to the needs of others with comforting words and shared tears.
Waiting brings an unexpected reward as we learn to trust our Father in Heaven. We learn the way to be at peace and experience moments when our faith in our Lord and Savior grows. We understand His Love more clearly through 2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent.
I spent my youthful energy after reaching the eighth decade of life. Aches and pains appear daily reminding me of my frailties. This is the time when resting in the Lord, I find peace and catch my breath. I learn daily to recognize the peace that passes all understanding comes from being still and praising our Father in Heaven.
Our journey grows joyful with those who praise our Jehovah even as we do. Soon our hearts fill with the understanding of how many languages are used to praise our Lord around the world. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed. Revelation 15:4.
Heaven is our promised land. The journey seems endless unless we count His blessings along the way like fragrant bouquets of roses for our souls.
During the Advent Season, counting down to the celebration of the birth of Jesus, we often place the preparations to celebrate above the central message—another coming of Jesus is imminent. After saying this, He was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see Him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go!” Acts 1:9-11.
As we neared the celebration of Christmas one year, I remember my Mother, hurting from pulmonary fibrosis, saying, “Christmas would be a beautiful day to go to Heaven.” She waited another ten months.
Waiting is a time to look forward to what will be and not back to what once was. In this time and season, I place my hand in His, and whisper, “I love You! I will wait for your coming, the Final Advent.”
For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
Romans 8:19-23.
Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. James 5:7-8
And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 8:27-28.
Comments? eacombs@att.net