Embracing the Gift of Waiting in Faith
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In the Psalms, Psalm chapter 1, it says, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Pay attention to this part. Verse 3. It's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. That's what we're about. When we say we want to be a church that helps people connect with Jesus and lives their life, we want to live our life fully connected, not just a little bit, not just on Sunday morning, but like not just one bar of connection, but like fully connected. To the max. We want to experience the fullness of life in Jesus. But in order to do that, and in order to not wither, right, when things get hard, or when there's challenges that come up into our life, we need to develop deep roots that can draw on, connect with who Jesus is. We can just encounter and experience his love and draw on the resources of his love and his mercy and his grace, which is actually power and strength. [00:00:47] (67 seconds)
We spend time We spend money even When it comes to airline travel Right? You don't have to wait in that long line That people get up an hour early for Just to stand in If you could spend a little bit of money We go to theme parks, right? Spend a little bit more money And you won't have to wait We want to fast pass it We want to fast pass our life Waiting is seen as this necessary evil Something that we all kind of have to do Have to put up with And if we could not do it Then we wouldn't But What if Waiting is not a necessary evil But a needed good What if it's a needed good? What if the wait itself is a gift? We want the fast pass for life But what if We end up skipping over the very things That are worth waiting for And missing the best things Because we don't want to wait Like a good bourbon or a fine wine Or as Diana Ross said You can't hurry love Okay? You cannot hurry love I'm hitting all the generations today Hitting them all We don't want to wait But what if The best things in life Don't just take time But time itself Is what makes them The best things That's where we're going to be going today What if the peace in the waiting Is one of those good gifts That God actually has for us I've been thinking about this a lot Because there's some stuff going on in my life As all of us And I'm like How do I approach this? Where is the pathway to peace in this situation? How do I get there? Is it acceptable? Do I just have to go Well, well It is what it is There's nothing I can really do So I just have to Make my peace with it Right? [00:26:22] (104 seconds)
Peace is not something that we make But something that God makes And this time of year Christmas Christmas This Advent season In this season of waiting It's a recognition that God has begun something in Jesus That we're waiting for the completion of Jesus has come He's promised to come again His kingdom has come It's going to come more fully He's started a work in you It's going to be fully realized someday And so we look back and say Gosh, Jesus came But we also look forward and say We're in the waiting We're in the waiting for something more Something better And Jesus is described As this Prince of Peace God making peace With us We get to live at peace Because of Jesus The Prince of Peace Who promised to give His peace That's not like any other peace in the world That's John 14 Jesus, the Prince of Peace Promised to give His peace In every circumstance Second Thessalonians Jesus, the Prince of Peace [00:28:19] (62 seconds)
God uses waiting to reveal who he is and how he works. In Luke 2, verse 26, it says that it had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. It had been revealed to him. Revealed. I want to camp out on that word. Revealed. There is a sense, a connotation with reveal that says that there are things that are beyond our control. So much of waiting, right, is because of things that are beyond our control. We can't do it for ourselves. All we can do is wait. We want to control. We want to do. We want to act, but all we can do is wait until something more is revealed. Something more. It makes us dependent. It makes us reliant. That word revealed means that there's something that is hidden to us, that is outside of us, that is beyond us, that actually needs to be revealed to us. We can't see it on our own. We can't do it on our own. We need someone else or something else to reveal it to us. [00:34:23] (75 seconds)
And in the ups and downs of life, you know, like, hey, those can be thrilling, those can be terrifying, those can be sickening, okay? But there's goodness that happens in the wait, and the greatest good is actually the relationship that develops. That is where God wants us to be, right by his side, depending on him, relying on him, enduring maybe some long lines, but developing this place of rest, this place of character, this trust in him as we follow him one step at a time. We come to know him more, come to love him more, trust him, rely on him even more. In the waiting, God is actually wanting to reveal things to us about who he is and how he works that we would not necessarily take the time or have the attention to lean into and hear and learn in the ups and downs of life. There's goodness in the waiting. God is revealing who he is and how he works. There's goodness in the waiting. God is revealing who he is and how he works. Here's the second thing that God does in the wait. [00:37:42] (64 seconds)
We become entitled when we just get everything that we want right when we want it, and God is saying, I want you to know me, number one. I want you, I want to reveal to you who I am, but I also want to do something in you. I want you to develop character and become the kind of person that is righteous, that is devout, that is filled with my spirit, that can wait well. We need to be, we need to wait to become the kind of person that can receive. God is refining our character, refining who we are, and sometimes, sometimes you don't want to wait. Most times, we don't want to wait, but other times, let me promise you, you want to wait. You want to wait because you don't want what you'll get if you don't, okay? You want to wait. I think about, you know, we're on the kids thing, a pop quiz, right? Oh, today is test day, and you're not ready. You want to wait. You want that thing pushed back, right? A little bit further, a little bit more time. I think about on another level, though. I mean, I met my wife, Gwen, in high school. We became friends. [00:40:52] (71 seconds)
God is doing something in our character, in the way that we wouldn't have if we didn't. In fact, Malachi, the book of Malachi, in this waiting period, right at the end, Malachi chapter 3 says, behold, God says, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts, but who can endure the day of his coming? Like, there are some things that if Jesus comes back now, are we ready? Are you ready? Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. There are some things that are happening in your life right now that are for the purpose of refining your character, and it is for your good that the day of the Lord is not right now. [00:42:48] (63 seconds)
Simeon was not just waiting. On this day, when Jesus is brought to him, he came in the spirit, ready to receive Jesus, ready to bless God. That's what Luke chapter 2, verse 27 to 32 actually says, when it says this, Simeon came in the spirit into the temple. He came in the spirit into the temple. He didn't come into the temple, and then get in the spirit. Oh, I'm not, I'm not feeling it today. I need to go to church. I need some church, y 'all. No, he came in the spirit already. He's a man that waits. He's righteous. He's devout. He's full of the Holy Spirit, and then he comes into the temple ready to receive Jesus. This is like a vision. This is a dream of mine, that we, We would be a church that gathers not only to receive Jesus, not only to receive blessing from God, although that is good and we're all going to need that sometime, but that we would be Simeons waiting on God, righteous and devout, full of the Holy Spirit. And when we gather together in the church, we are actually in the Spirit already. Like, we come ready. Let's go. God, what do you have for me? I'm ready to receive Jesus. I'm ready for more. Whatever you got, bring it on, God. I'm here. Here I am. I want to say yes to whatever your invitation is. And part of how I'm going to do that is I'm going to bless. [00:46:21] (84 seconds)
Luke chapter 2, verse 36 and 38, we actually pivot to another woman. Her name is Anna. It says, there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eight. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming upon that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. I think it's arguable that Anna has spent her life waiting. She's very, very practiced at waiting. And some, I know there are some among us that wish that God would have done something in our life, even that we would have known him earlier. And we said, man, all that wasted time waiting. No. God actually redeems the wait. He redeems our past. Anna had spent her life waiting. It specifically notes, she's a virgin. [00:51:09] (69 seconds)
What if the things that you've done in this waiting time, the places that you've been, even the things that maybe are coming to mind right now, you're like, man, that's a regret. I feel ashamed of that. I wish I would have done that differently. Perhaps in that waiting time lies a gift that God wants to use in your life, to redeem in your life, to minister and bless out of the wait to those who are still waiting. That's a gift. It's something that God is doing in the wait. So here's the challenge. [00:53:18] (34 seconds)
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We spend time We spend money even When it comes to airline travel Right? You don't have to wait in that long line That people get up an hour early for Just to stand in If you could spend a little bit of money We go to theme parks, right? Spend a little bit more money And you won't have to wait We want to fast pass it We want to fast pass our life Waiting is seen as this necessary evil Something that we all kind of have to do Have to put up with And if we could not do it Then we wouldn't But What if Waiting is not a necessary evil But a needed good What if it's a needed good? What if the wait itself is a gift? We want the fast pass for life But what if We end up skipping over the very things That are worth waiting for And missing the best things Because we don't want to wait Like a good bourbon or a fine wine Or as Diana Ross said You can't hurry love Okay? You cannot hurry love I'm hitting all the generations today Hitting them all We don't want to wait But what if The best things in life Don't just take time But time itself Is what makes them The best things That's where we're going to be going today What if the peace in the waiting Is one of those good gifts That God actually has for us I've been thinking about this a lot Because there's some stuff going on in my life As all of us And I'm like How do I approach this? Where is the pathway to peace in this situation? How do I get there? Is it acceptable? Do I just have to go Well, well It is what it is There's nothing I can really do So I just have to Make my peace with it Right? [00:26:22] (104 seconds)
Peace is not something that we make But something that God makes And this time of year Christmas Christmas This Advent season In this season of waiting It's a recognition that God has begun something in Jesus That we're waiting for the completion of Jesus has come He's promised to come again His kingdom has come It's going to come more fully He's started a work in you It's going to be fully realized someday And so we look back and say Gosh, Jesus came But we also look forward and say We're in the waiting We're in the waiting for something more Something better And Jesus is described As this Prince of Peace God making peace With us We get to live at peace Because of Jesus The Prince of Peace Who promised to give His peace That's not like any other peace in the world That's John 14 Jesus, the Prince of Peace Promised to give His peace In every circumstance Second Thessalonians Jesus, the Prince of Peace [00:28:19] (62 seconds)
God uses waiting to reveal who he is and how he works. In Luke 2, verse 26, it says that it had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. It had been revealed to him. Revealed. I want to camp out on that word. Revealed. There is a sense, a connotation with reveal that says that there are things that are beyond our control. So much of waiting, right, is because of things that are beyond our control. We can't do it for ourselves. All we can do is wait. We want to control. We want to do. We want to act, but all we can do is wait until something more is revealed. Something more. It makes us dependent. It makes us reliant. That word revealed means that there's something that is hidden to us, that is outside of us, that is beyond us, that actually needs to be revealed to us. We can't see it on our own. We can't do it on our own. We need someone else or something else to reveal it to us. [00:34:23] (75 seconds)
And in the ups and downs of life, you know, like, hey, those can be thrilling, those can be terrifying, those can be sickening, okay? But there's goodness that happens in the wait, and the greatest good is actually the relationship that develops. That is where God wants us to be, right by his side, depending on him, relying on him, enduring maybe some long lines, but developing this place of rest, this place of character, this trust in him as we follow him one step at a time. We come to know him more, come to love him more, trust him, rely on him even more. In the waiting, God is actually wanting to reveal things to us about who he is and how he works that we would not necessarily take the time or have the attention to lean into and hear and learn in the ups and downs of life. There's goodness in the waiting. God is revealing who he is and how he works. There's goodness in the waiting. God is revealing who he is and how he works. Here's the second thing that God does in the wait. [00:37:42] (64 seconds)
We become entitled when we just get everything that we want right when we want it, and God is saying, I want you to know me, number one. I want you, I want to reveal to you who I am, but I also want to do something in you. I want you to develop character and become the kind of person that is righteous, that is devout, that is filled with my spirit, that can wait well. We need to be, we need to wait to become the kind of person that can receive. God is refining our character, refining who we are, and sometimes, sometimes you don't want to wait. Most times, we don't want to wait, but other times, let me promise you, you want to wait. You want to wait because you don't want what you'll get if you don't, okay? You want to wait. I think about, you know, we're on the kids thing, a pop quiz, right? Oh, today is test day, and you're not ready. You want to wait. You want that thing pushed back, right? A little bit further, a little bit more time. I think about on another level, though. I mean, I met my wife, Gwen, in high school. We became friends. [00:40:52] (71 seconds)
God is doing something in our character, in the way that we wouldn't have if we didn't. In fact, Malachi, the book of Malachi, in this waiting period, right at the end, Malachi chapter 3 says, behold, God says, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts, but who can endure the day of his coming? Like, there are some things that if Jesus comes back now, are we ready? Are you ready? Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. There are some things that are happening in your life right now that are for the purpose of refining your character, and it is for your good that the day of the Lord is not right now. [00:42:48] (63 seconds)
Simeon was not just waiting. On this day, when Jesus is brought to him, he came in the spirit, ready to receive Jesus, ready to bless God. That's what Luke chapter 2, verse 27 to 32 actually says, when it says this, Simeon came in the spirit into the temple. He came in the spirit into the temple. He didn't come into the temple, and then get in the spirit. Oh, I'm not, I'm not feeling it today. I need to go to church. I need some church, y 'all. No, he came in the spirit already. He's a man that waits. He's righteous. He's devout. He's full of the Holy Spirit, and then he comes into the temple ready to receive Jesus. This is like a vision. This is a dream of mine, that we, We would be a church that gathers not only to receive Jesus, not only to receive blessing from God, although that is good and we're all going to need that sometime, but that we would be Simeons waiting on God, righteous and devout, full of the Holy Spirit. And when we gather together in the church, we are actually in the Spirit already. Like, we come ready. Let's go. God, what do you have for me? I'm ready to receive Jesus. I'm ready for more. Whatever you got, bring it on, God. I'm here. Here I am. I want to say yes to whatever your invitation is. And part of how I'm going to do that is I'm going to bless. [00:46:21] (84 seconds)
Luke chapter 2, verse 36 and 38, we actually pivot to another woman. Her name is Anna. It says, there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eight. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming upon that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. I think it's arguable that Anna has spent her life waiting. She's very, very practiced at waiting. And some, I know there are some among us that wish that God would have done something in our life, even that we would have known him earlier. And we said, man, all that wasted time waiting. No. God actually redeems the wait. He redeems our past. Anna had spent her life waiting. It specifically notes, she's a virgin. [00:51:09] (69 seconds)
What if the things that you've done in this waiting time, the places that you've been, even the things that maybe are coming to mind right now, you're like, man, that's a regret. I feel ashamed of that. I wish I would have done that differently. Perhaps in that waiting time lies a gift that God wants to use in your life, to redeem in your life, to minister and bless out of the wait to those who are still waiting. That's a gift. It's something that God is doing in the wait. So here's the challenge. [00:53:18] (34 seconds)
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