Active Waiting

Romans 8:18-25

Who likes to wait?  At a stop sign?  In rush hour traffic?  At the doctor's office?  For your spouse to get ready?  For test results?  For the answers to big important questions (who will I marry?  What will happen to my children as they grow up?  Will I get the job of my dreams?)

Waiting is hard; waiting goes against our natural bent to want it when we want it (watch a toddler when you tell her she has to wait for a snack.....).  Paul talks about waiting in this passage, but it's not a passive, twiddling-our-thumbs kind of waiting.  It's an active waiting that acknowledges that God is in charge:

v. 19:  the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

v. 23:  we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons.

v. 25:  if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

I broke my wrist last week.  I was running and slipped on the ice.  (ouch, and boy am I careful now :).  I had surgery on Monday.  I can't drive until I see the doctor next week.  My dear husband is doing most of the household chores - it's hard to wash dishes with one hand in a splint.

The first few days post-accident, I was a mess.  I felt helpless.  I hated how hard it was to be one-handed.  But, day by day, my perspective has changed.  God has impressed on me that this accident is a time for reflection, for prayer, and for thankfulness.  Yes, for gratitude!  I am humbled by the care and concern from friends and family.  It have had so many chances to say 'thank you.'  I have been served by the body of Christ.

I didn't plan this accident, but I see God's hand in it.  And, in the light of eternity, it is a blip.  The kind of waiting Paul is talking about is active - even when we are slowed down by injury.  I urge you to look for God every day, and to remember that when you are down, when you don't get the answers you want, that God has a plan, and that he will never forsake you.