By Jessi Phinney
Tick, tick, tick…the sound of a clock…it’s something we hear
and know we are utterly helpless to change or manipulate. We can try--by attempting to fool ourselves
or live in denial. But there is simply nothing we can do to change seconds,
minutes, hours, days, months, or years that roll by. Even if we just sit…time passes. I often will sit still before the Lord at
night and listen to the two clocks in my room competing to get to the hour
first, ticking steadily, and faithfully marching on--whether or not I am ready
to move forward. This becomes a reminder to me that even though time itself
seems to be passing swiftly and taking me along for a ride, God is not
manipulated by the clock. He is not
dominated or concerned about the passing of time. His heavenly clock is nothing
like my earthly one and His makes perfect sense…all the time. Mine, on the other hand, rarely makes sense
to me, and can so easily induce panic within ~ the things I didn’t get crossed
off my list that day, the busy day that awaits me, the petitions raised before
heaven that still seem unmet, the rapid speed of the children growing, the way
the world around me is changing, and the list goes on and on. Fill in your own
blanks, because we all struggle with it, and we wonder, and we wait some
more. We are back in front of it,
staring it down. It’s the waiting game. Will we ever be done?
Let us proceed
to a different reality…the heavenly realm.
Our minds can’t quite get around this one, because here is a place where
God reigns and is not controlled by a single being--angelic or otherwise. He is simply and powerfully, the “I AM.” He is not only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob--He is our God. The One who knows
not only every intricate detail there is to know about you and me, but about
all who are His own, as well as those who have rejected Him, those who
persecute Him, rulers of nations, angelic beings, demons of darkness, and Satan
himself. Yet, He is not intimidated by a single one. Though we may believe all
of what was just said in our minds, we do not often treat our God with this awe
and trust in our day-to-day lives. I
know far too often I do not. I am too
concerned with the ticking of my earthly I
Love Lucy ™ 1 clock
telling me I’m running out of time to ________, and then I start thinking, “What
is God waiting on?” I just jumped on the
wrong train and it is only going to lead me down a track that will end in
despair.
What train
are you jumping on? The one that fills
you with a hope that does not disappoint (Romans 5:5) or the one that tells you,
“It’s too late, God can’t change that person,” “God only has until Sunday to
tell me what to do. I have to make a decision by then,” “I’ve prayed and waited.
Maybe God wants me to use my free will now.”
These are lies; shallow, pitiful ways that the Enemy traps us again and
again. I’ve been there and I will be again in this lifetime, because we are in
a battle! One thing, we far too often
forget to remember, is a spiritual one. When we jump on the wrong train, we
frequently fail to see what He has equipped us with. For starters, there is the
Holy Spirit indwelling us, granting us the privilege to function from a “not I,
but Christ” (Col. 3:10) perspective, as well as the armor of God, which He so
freely grants us access 24/7 (Eph. 6:10-18).
Our clocks will always remind of us of what is TEMPORAL, while His clock will always remind us of what
is ETERNAL.
In the truthful words of Andrew Murray~
“Just think for a moment of the multitude of
waiting ones who need that prayer [Ps. 25:3]; how many there are, sick and
weary and solitary, to whom it is as if their prayers are not answered, and who
sometimes begin to fear that their hope will be put to shame. And then, how many servants of God, ministers
or missionaries, teachers or workers, of various name, whose hope in their work
has been disappointed, and whose longing for power and blessings remain
unsatisfied. And then, too, how many, who have heard of a life of rest and
perfect peace, of abiding light and fellowship, of strength and victory, and
who cannot find the path. With all
these, it is nothing but that they have not yet learned the secret of full
waiting upon God. They just need, what
we all need, the living assurance that waiting on God can never be in
vain. Let us remember all who are in
danger of fainting or being weary, and all unite in the cry, ‘Let none that
wait on Thee be ashamed!’
If this intercession for all who wait
on God becomes part of our waiting on Him for ourselves, we shall help to bear each
other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” 2
The secret
is not in getting it right each and every time. The secret is in the embracing
of the wait, for nothing should be sweeter than to know His intimacy as we
wait. Let us be as the virgins with oil
in our lamps, living every day ready for our Groom’s return, AND for what He
has given us each day in the moment (Matt. 25:1-13). The secret is in the answer to the question
we asked in the beginning, “Will we ever be done?” No, we aren’t ever to stop waiting, because
even if the temporal gets met in this lifetime, the eternal is not fulfilled
until He returns for His bride. He will not grant us the temporal, unless it is
part of His clock to complete the eternal.
It is as Murray encouraged us: we are to see one another in those weary
moments of waiting, bearing our burdens with one another in Truth, and praying
the words of Psalm 25:3, 5: “Indeed, none of those who wait for Thee will be
ashamed; those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Lead
me in Thy truth and teach me, for Thou art the God of my salvation; For Thee I wait all the day” (emphasis
mine).
God is
always worth the wait, so don’t jump off His train; it leads to a hope that
won’t disappoint. Go the journey with
me, and let’s encourage and offer His words of hope when the lies of the Enemy
come. So in the end we shall be among
the ones who experience what we see when we wait on His clock.
1 I Love Lucy™ brand
is a registered
trademark
of CBS Worldwide, Inc. ™ 2005.
2
Murray, Andrew. “Waiting on God” (public domain: Popular
Classics Publishing, 2012).
All
Scriptures, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, ©
Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
