Good morning…
“I don’t feel terribly convicted about anything right now,” a reader from South Carolina admitted after yesterday’s post, Waiting Without Words. “I don’t feel ‘on fire’ or on a mountaintop. Thank goodness I’m not in a dark valley, but I do feel as though I am merely existing. Yesterday I was a bit sad that I couldn’t hear God so clearly, and your comments today have lifted my spirit. I will wait patiently as He works on me.”
Yet waiting patiently for God to work on us has a downside too. Doesn’t it? Waiting until we feel convicted, “on fire,” topping a spiritual mountain can allow injustice, oppression, and exploitation to run rampant around us.
“I vividly remember as a kid learning about the Holocaust and being absolutely horrified that the rest of the world stood by for so long and allowed such an atrocity to occur,” a reader from Florida wrote after Monday’s post, Take A Breath. “I can still picture that moment in class. Later as an adult, I watched a documentary about the Nuremberg trials. A Nazi general being tried for war crimes broke down crying on the stand and insisted he wasn’t a monster, of course he knew this was horrific, but he kept waiting for someone to stand up. He felt powerless, and feared for his family if he didn’t go along. Recently, I read a Bishop Barron devotional – consider the level of Christian fear or indifference that had to exist for the Holocaust to happen. Everyone thought “someone” should do something.”
Wanting badly to invest in the authentic work that is ours to do, we impatiently ponder, “God, when do we stop waiting and become the ‘someone’ doing something?”
“This passage from N.T. Wright is really resonating for me right now,” the second reader shared this quote. “Jesus did not say to his disciples, ‘I have a great plan for your life.’ He said, ‘Anyone who wants to come after me, let them take up their cross and follow me.’ Wherever God is at work there is a cost. Whenever we are called to follow Christ, there will be a cross. Whenever we discover that we are gifted in particular ways and want to use them for the glory of God other than for our own glory, then there will be something which causes us pain.”
After these emails graced my inbox, something suddenly caused me great pain. A good friend texted our small group of friends to share the long awaited results of an MRI. It seems cancer has returned to her daughter’s body. Immediately prayers lifted. Right away a stream of encouraging texts flowed. Privileged to help carry the cross of cancer, we will follow God’s lead, meeting daily needs.
Ebbing then flowing. Ebbing then flowing. We catch our breath in periods of wordless waiting. In God’s time, we are strengthened to walk intimately with those pummeled by life’s unplanned pain.
Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. There the day of the Lord will soon arrive. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine…the heavens and the earth will shake. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a strong fortress… (Joel 3:14-16, NLT).
…Sue…
