I recently came across a quote by a man I respect very much. John Ortberg, Senior Pastor at Menlo Park Prebyterian Church in Northern California stated that, “Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.”
Let me give you some background into my life that will help you understand why this quote jumped off the page. I recently got married and needed a job to provide for my wife and myself. I had been searching for a job since last April and seemed to have a couple of options available but no solid job offers. Needless to say, I was getting anxious, worried, and perhaps even doubting whether or not God had a plan for me. I was in a period of waiting, and my patience was being tried.
This brings us back to Ortberg’s quote. At first glance, it seems like “just another quote” about patience, but let’s dig a bit deeper into its meaning. What does it truly mean to “wait upon the Lord?” as Isaiah (40:31), the psalmist(40:1), or other biblical authors suggest? This is where I find Ortberg’s quote to be more than the average quote, because in this statement Ortberg suggests that we are to employ active patience. In this sense, we are not merely placing our requests before the Lord and enduring a randomly allotted time of waiting, but instead we should be allowing and expecting Him to transform us by the power of the gospel as we wait.
How often do we “plan our way,” only to have “the Lord establish our steps?” (Proverbs 16:9). While this can be frustrating and/or confusing at first, I’ve come to understand this to be a huge blessing! I look back and see many times the Lord saved me from my own foolish plans, or guided me on a path immeasurably more rewarding than I could have “asked or imagined!” (Eph 3:20). The path became more rewarding because I underwent a paradigm shift as I actively waited. So how do we participate in active patience in our time of waiting? As we pray, I’ve found that the Lord aligns our hearts to His own. The Lord allots this period of waiting, in His sovereignty, so that we can be drawn to Him! This is the Lord’s desire for us during this time. This is what Ortberg states: “God wants us to be.” We are not merely to endure this time as we wait for our plans unfold, but instead to seek the Lord’s plan by aligning our heart to His. For when our hearts are aligned with His, then so are our priorities, inclinations and desires. At this point Christ’s glory is the priority, not the temporary pleasures or successes that may have been influencing our previous plan.
Whatever previous desire I may have had on my job search, the Lord had the perfect plan for me, just as He assures me He always will. As I struggled to have patience, the Lord was even more patient with me as he slowly aligned the desires of my heart with His own, and as He did, He placed my current job right into my lap. I’ve been working here for just under a week, and I’m feeling very blessed.
As we eagerly await the answers to life’s hard questions, let us not miss the opportunity to actually bear fruit while we wait. Instead of merely waiting for the Lord to fulfill our desire, let us allow our hearts to be aligned with His in active patience through prayer, reading of scripture, and receiving of guidance. In this way, we can experience the very best He has for us while we wait! For when we are seeking first to glorify Christ in our life, then we will be truly satisfied to wait upon Him patiently. And who knows? Perhaps He will take us down a new and exciting path!
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25
Today’s post is written by Ted Cockle, a new writer for the Inspired Faith blog. He earned his undergraduate degree from Wheaton College (IL) in 2009 majoring in Communications and Businesss. He has chosen to continue his studies and is currently working towards his master’s degree in Christian Formation and Ministry at the same institution. As an employee of Inspired Faith he will be contributing to our blog on a regular basis.
Several years ago, when I was at a small group meeting, one of the girls in our group was discussing some recent growth she had experienced in the midst of difficult family circumstances.
“I think God blesses us with families so that we learn to be humble and to grow in Him,” she said.
Another girl in the group responded with wry humor, “Or families are a curse from the Fall!”
Photo by SuziJane (flickr.com)
We’ve all experienced rough times with family members. Even those who come from supportive Christian families still have to deal with conflicts, as multiple people with their own ideas and wills have to co-exist daily. While I don’t think families themselves are a part of the Fall (after all, Adam and Eve were put into a family together before the Fall), I do believe that the tensions and frustrations many people associate with “family” are a result of sin and the Fall. Since we are all sinners, we all hurt each other – sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally.
Where friends, co-workers, teachers, and strangers are concerned, we can ignore people we don’t like. We can create distance and remove regular opportunities for conflict. With family members, especially those who live in the same house, distance and escape aren’t as practical. Living in families requires us to face our sinful natures – to struggle with our own sin and to struggle with others’ sins toward us.
And yet, in this broken mess that is often “family,” God is working. He is growing us, shaping us to be more like Jesus. The key is that we have to let Him do it. We can’t resent our family situations so much that we stop listening for His voice. We have to expect God to meet us right where we are and to work on our behalf, even when He doesn’t do it in the time or the manner that we think He should.
Have you ever felt like you were “cursed” with a family, rather than “blessed”? How is God working in and through your family life? Even if you can’t see or think of anything right away, spend at least ten minutes today thinking and praying about the good works that God is doing. Pray until God brings something to mind. Then thank Him for His provision and His strength. Ask Him to sharpen your faith through your family.
Excerpt from A Time for Prayer, the 2010 book for the National Day of Prayer:
Taking Back Our Communities by Lance Wubbels
One of the greatest “layperson revivals” in American history occurred in 1857. At that time there were 30,000 men idle on the streets of New York. Drunkenness was rampant, and the nation was divided by slavery. On September 23, 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier, a praying businessman, began a noontime prayer meeting on Fulton Street in the Financial District of Manhattan. Out of a city of one million people, six people showed up. However, the crowds grew, and within three months there were prayer meetings all over the city. More than 50,000 people in New York City alone paused each Wednesday at noon to pray. The prayer revival soon spread across the nation, and in about 18 months, a million people were converted to Jesus Christ.
Ongoing since 2002, prayer warriors rallied against a prolific drug problem in Manchester, Kentucky. Located in Clay County, the second poorest county in Kentucky and the sixth poorest in the nation, Manchester had approximately the same number in the county jail and federal prison as residents – 2,200. As reported on the 700 Club, almost immediately they began to see change. Drug arrests went way up! Drug dealers and users started coming to church and getting saved and the story of Manchester was carried in papers through the country. Little did they know their march against drugs would ignite a fire of hope that continues to spread across the country. Dozens of towns, from Georgia to Texas, after seeing the stories on the 700 Club, held their own marches and are taking back their communities for Christ.
Prayer for the Nation by Max Lucado
Dear God,
Not to us, O Lord, but to You goes all the glory.
We depend on You. You give birth and breath and determine our days. You make every nation and set every boundary. We exist by Your power.
We exist for Your glory. Showcase Your power through this land. Display Your justice in our courts, wisdom in our governments, guidance in our schools, and love in our homes.
Have mercy upon our sins. We have disrespected Your Word, disregarded Your gifts, and discarded Your children. We are sorry. Forgive us, dear Father.
Grant strength to all our leaders. May they serve You first and honor You most. Remind us of the brevity of this life and the beauty of the next. Prepare our souls for the day we meet You in eternity.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Day! Today is set aside in the United States as a day to honor and thank our teachers. Today, as you remember influential teachers in your life or the lives of your children, take a moment to pray for our nation’s teachers.
...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
It has been estimated that there are well over 500,000 Christian teachers in public schools. Many of them have felt intimidated by court rulings against religious expression and at times have been silenced by our culture’s ambivalence toward moral absolutes. However, limitations don’t change the fact that the Spirit of God resides within them and is working through them – through caring interactions with students and living out their faith day by day; through effective teaching that enables students to develop their unique, God-given gifts; through teaching commonly accepted values, such as honesty, respect, and caring for others; and through teaching about religion within the curriculum. Pray that Christian teachers will have a tremendous impact on the lives of their students and positively influence the cultures, values, and spiritual environments of their schools.
Lord, I ask You to inspire all Christians in education to be Your shining light in schools by being role models and mentors for the younger generations. I pray for teachers to have the wisdom, knowledge, and skills to teach students and make their classrooms places where students learn not only knowledge, but also morality and integrity. I pray that teachers and school administrative leaders would fear You and understand that they have a great responsibility as they train our nation’s future leaders. Holy Spirit, fill the lives of the teachers with Your presence, and by their shining examples, I ask You to draw young people to follow Jesus. Amen.
What kind of school did you attend? Did you have teachers who impacted you for the better? Share a story about your favorite teacher in a comment.
