Waiting..........

   

  Waiting... When I think of waiting I picture myself in a line that isn't moving. My legs are getting tired; I'm getting restless, I'm hungry and I'm beginning to lose my patience. I'm ready to turn around and walk out the door and come back another time. But you know what, we wait— all the time in our lives. We're standing still while our lives are passing us by. And you know what else, God called us to a life filled with action, not a life filled with impatient passivity. Watching the days pass by, as we wait for something that we really want.

    For anyone who knows me, you know that I struggle with winter's, a lot. It isn't just the snow or the cold, it wreaks havoc on my body. I'm in a great deal of pain, every single day. It's tempting for me to just muddle through the winter months that pass, holding onto the hope of spring- with no care of the time in between. I've done it before and I've found that I missed out on my life. There was an entire block of time I wasn't actually present in, I wasn't engaged, I was too busy waiting.

   Waiting can keep you busy, even as some part of you is standing still- you're still busy. You're fixated on your chosen focal point and not paying much mind to what is going on around you. The days blur and run one right into the next. You wake up and do things and you go to bed, unfulfilled, waiting for the next day to come because hopefully, it will be better. I think it's easy to get into this frame of mind when you do suffer from chronic pain, whether it be physical or emotional. We're always holding out hope in the mean time.

   I came to the realization that while waiting for the better days to come, I wasn't living my life. I was accomplishing tasks but not living. I was getting the things I needed to get done for the day but not actually living my life. It wasn't fulfilling. It wasn't satisfying. It wasn't godly.

    "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God' love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:1-5

    "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24

    "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Philippians 3:12

    We can't run this race, standing still... Life is a race. The life we have been called to, is a race. There is an element of peace and rest that is always available to us through Christ Jesus our Lord, it can only be accomplished through Him. But the life we are called to isn't accomplished through our indignant complacency. When we're impatiently waiting for "the next best thing" we are essentially saying— I don't care about all this other stuff, I just want to get to the thing I have my eyes on. And that my friends, isn't living.

    God is in the small stuff. He's in the ordinary stuff. He's in the everyday stuff and we'll be remiss to see Him if we're focusing on something far off in the future. I know there are souls out there who feel as though God doesn't speak to them but my question is, are you listening or are you somewhere else?

   Pain sucks, we want to escape it. Uncomfortable situations are miserable. Heart break is awful. Winter (for me) is absolute misery. Dealing with difficult circumstances really begins to wear on you. I get it. I truly do. But as another birthday comes and goes and you look in the mirror and see that you've more wrinkles or see a new gray hair, realize that your life is passing by as you wait. Stop waiting! Your life is right now! It is here, in this place, doing the things you're doing, with the people you're with. Don't go to bed with the to-do list checked off anymore, live through it. Don't merely survive the days, live through them. As difficult as some days may be but be encouraged that the Lord is always with you. He truly is. We can't see Him if we're looking forward to a day somewhere off in the future because He is here now.

    "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

     Live your life now, stop waiting. Even if this life that you currently have isn't what you wanted, there is always a hope for the future. But to take hold of that future life, we must persevere through the life at hand, and do it with a joy filled heart. God is in today, He is all around us— just look for Him. We can't afford to take up a position of standing still within the recesses of our hearts when we're called to a race. Envision the finish line but enjoy and participate in the race as you travel along, it will be well worth the journey, to one day arrive before the Father and hear- "Well done, good and faithful servant." Oh those words are enough, to know I made my Father proud, living my life in full capacity. He is the only one I want to please, He is the only one whose opinion matters.

    Be blessed today friends.