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A faithful presence of love in the absences of our city.

The Waiting Place...

The Waiting place...

What if Esau had just waited? Waited just a little longer instead of handing over his birthright to his brother? While he gained a delicious meal, he lost his privilege of being the first born. If he had just waited….what would have happened?

We could ponder that question forever. Maybe Esau would have given up asking and just poured himself a bowl of cereal; maybe Jacob would have seen his brother’s need for food and would have given him some stew anyways. Yet, neither happened and Esau gave in to his desire for instant gratification. This is something we all do as Pastor Justin pointed out. Why wait when you can have it now? Waiting can be too hard. 

We have all experienced seasons of waiting. Whether it is waiting for Christmas to come, a baby to arrive, or a work project to be finished, we all know what it is like to wait. Waiting can bring uncertainty, stress, and pessimism. It can make you wish that time went faster or slower depending on the situation. However, waiting can also bring growth, faith, and hope. If God granted things instantly, we would only learn that our needs and desires matter first. We would not look at things in the midst of a bigger picture as God has done since the beginning. We would not rely on Him while we are waiting.

This idea of waiting – especially when an answer or reprieve from our waiting does not appear imminent – was touched on in the Tuesday night Women’s Bible Study. Waiting is hard because we do not believe that God is listening, we do not believe that God will answer, or we do not believe that God will answer us in the way we want. While the last one may not happen, Jesus promises us in the Scriptures that He is always listening and He will eventually answer – even if it is when He finally returns. 

“Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24) Jesus says this to the disciples, knowing that His time on earth is quickly coming to an end. He knows that His followers are going to endure much more tribulation once He leaves and they do not know when He is coming back. They will be in a time of waiting. And so are we right now. Waiting for Jesus to come.  

It is in this time of waiting that Jesus tells us to ask – to come before Him with our requests. He does not promise that we will receive exactly what we ask or promise that we will even receive an answer in a certain time. He just promises joy – a joy found only in Him, by Him, and through Him. As mentioned in the bible study, we cannot experience joy unless we have truly been in despair (wise words from Laura Cobb). It is when we are in the despair of waiting – no matter how trivial the waiting can be – we can turn to Jesus and be heard, seen, comforted, etc. 

The next time you are in a season of waiting, remember that growth is happening. Jesus is working in you, shaping you more into the likeness of Himself. Remember that your faith is building and a reliance on Him is never a weakness. Remember to hope that no matter how long or whatever the answer might be, Jesus is coming back to renew, restore, and rebuild this broken world we live in. But until Christ returns, He is eagerly waiting to hear from you. 

~Chelsea Warren