5.08.2012

Waiting Room: Part III


Until Then


In Bleak House by Charles Dickens, Richard is a passionate young man with the world in his proper top hat. Yet he goes against the advice of his wise, compassionate guardian, Mr. Jarndyce, and places all his energy and resources into a court case which may or may not promise him an inheritance. Of this and his unjust accusations about Mr. Jarndyce, he says to a friend, "See another reason for urging it on! I may find out when it's over that I have been mistaken in John Jarndyce. My head may be clearer when I am free of it, and I may then agree with what you say to-day. Very well. Then I shall acknowledge it and make him reparation."

And his friend bemoans in her head, “Everything postponed to that imaginary time! Everything held in confusion and indecision until then [1]!”

Do not put everything on hold until that imaginary time, whatever you do.

Alone: In the Wild

All of us have God-given callings, vision, purpose, desires, delights, and talents. And all of us are waiting on the fulfillment of these things in some way or another. As children in school, and then single young adults—indeed, in any time of life—it can be particularly tempting to view our station in life as a holding room. We are prone to fancy ourselves sitting dully in a green room, dallying for the moment when the world becomes a stage and the moment of destiny has arrived. Yet as I, and I hope you, have learned in Part I (read here) and Part II (read here) of this series, while God has us waiting in some areas of our lives, He certainly has not put our lives on hold. This is your life! Now! So live it! God has given you the hazy, azure mountain peaks in the distance, but that does not give you permission to pause and pine over them. Lace up your boots and start your hike on the path God has for you now!

The Reward of Waiting

David’s epilogue—the result of many years of tenuous waiting—is precious. “And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus (Acts 13:21-23).”

For your waiting and your work, can you imagine a better mountain peak than this? Could David have possibly imagined this when, as a youth, he was set apart by God to be king of Israel? You can be sure that there will be a mountain peak or two in your life—it just may look different close-up than it did far away. If you can wait, and in your waiting, act; if you can act, and in your action dream; if you can dream, and outside your dream serve, then you have learned indeed the lesson of waiting.

God rewarded David’s abiding with the most precious prize imaginable: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son...My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever (II Samuel 7:8b-9, 12, 14a, 15-16).”

This is the ultimate mountain peak of waiting. And it’s worth waiting for!









[1] Dickens, Charles. "Chapter 37: Jarndyce and Jarndyce." Bleak House. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ., 1991. Print.

Photo Credit: Dave Morrow

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.



2 comments:

  1. Whilst patience is a virtue, so is seizing all the opportunities and chances that we are presented with. I feel called to say that this post makes me think of courtship for both you and Lauren. I don't know if anything is in the works, but I just want to share a little 'parable' and some good advice I have been given.

    A religious man is on top of a roof during a great flood. A man comes by in a boat and says "get in, get in!" The religous man replies, " no I have faith in God, he will grant me a miracle."

    Later the water is up to his waist and another boat comes by and the guy tells him to get in again. He responds that he has faith in god and god will give him a miracle. With the water at about chest high, another boat comes to rescue him, but he turns down the offer again cause "God will grant him a miracle."

    With the water at chin high, a helicopter throws down a ladder and they tell him to get in, mumbling with the water in his mouth, he again turns down the request for help for the faith of God. He arrives at the gates of heaven with broken faith and says to Peter, I thought God would grand me a miracle and I have been let down." St. Peter chuckles and responds, "I don't know what you're complaining about, we sent you three boats and a helicopter."

    I know many a woman of 30 who has wished for marriage her whole adult life but remains unhappily single. Whilst it is important to consider purity, many girls take this too far and think that one should avoid all contact with eligible men. This simply isn't true! By all means guard yourself against too close a friendship, but do not make the mistake of failing to be on 'friendly terms' with young men. If one doesn't get to know any young men then how can it be that you are able to see the one that God has chosen for you?

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  2. Hi Samantha!

    Thanks for your loving advice and taking the time to comment.

    Though this post is about waiting in general, it can certainly be applied to waiting for marriage or any other hope you have. However, in hoping for marriage, I am neither unhappy in my single state (unlike the man who was increasingly distressed by his state), nor do I need to be “rescued” from my singleness (unlike the man desperate to be rescued). Whether I am single or married, God has providentially put me in the that state to learn contentment and joy and bring glory to Him.

    With that said, I certainly believe that there are things I must be doing to prepare for marriage, should I be so blessed. Character-development, practical skills, expanding God’s kingdom—all points of preparation that apply to any waiting period, and which I also addressed in this series. I certainly converse with men and am not afraid to interact with them, but I am also not out to develop a friendship with a guy in case he is the “one.” I would much rather be married to the man God has for me for thirty years than to be married to the wrong man my whole life. ;-)

    May the Lord renew your strength as you wait upon Him!

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