Today’s Readings: Psalm 79; Nehemiah 4:1-23; Luke 4:9-15; 1 Peter 2:20-25; Psalm 123
Today’s Featured Reading: Psalm 123.
I learned an important lesson about waiting during the summer and fall of 2007. On the evening before I was supposed to fly back to Denver after visiting my parents for a few weeks, my father had a heart attack. I remember rushing to the Intensive Care Unit early the following morning where I had the chance to watch dad lie there before I had to step on the plane and return home. Many days went by as dad remained in ICU. In fact, he was there for a total of 3 weeks. When he was finally moved out of ICU, he didn’t come home. Due to a breathing issue that had contributed to his heart problem, dad went to a rehabilitation center where he spent the next three months regaining his strength. At the start of the ordeal, I was incredibly impatient. I wanted dad’s recovery to happen overnight. As one day stretched into the next, however, I learned what it meant to wait in new ways. I moved away from a place where I regularly made demands on God, to a place where I could open myself to a place of acceptance – whatever the outcome. I thought of that experience as I read the psalmist’s words from the 123rd Psalm: “Like servants, alert to their master’s commands, like a maiden attending her lady, we’re watching and waiting, holding our breath, awaiting your word of mercy” (Psalm 123:1-2 from The Message). During this season of Lent, many of us are in a place where I was during my father’s convalescence – we want to get through the uncertainty and trauma (the Passion) and move immediately into a place of happy endings and closure (Easter). And yet we are stuck. Stuck waiting. As I learned through the experience with my father, the days of waiting can be pivotal times in our spiritual journey - for those days can help prepare us for whatever lies ahead. Is there an area of your life where you are approaching in an impatient manner? An area where you want resolution yesterday? If so, remember the words of the psalmist and use that difficult time of waiting to prepare yourself for the future. That way, you’ll be a little more ready for what unfolds – no matter the outcome. Til next time…
Today’s Featured Reading: Psalm 123.
I learned an important lesson about waiting during the summer and fall of 2007. On the evening before I was supposed to fly back to Denver after visiting my parents for a few weeks, my father had a heart attack. I remember rushing to the Intensive Care Unit early the following morning where I had the chance to watch dad lie there before I had to step on the plane and return home. Many days went by as dad remained in ICU. In fact, he was there for a total of 3 weeks. When he was finally moved out of ICU, he didn’t come home. Due to a breathing issue that had contributed to his heart problem, dad went to a rehabilitation center where he spent the next three months regaining his strength. At the start of the ordeal, I was incredibly impatient. I wanted dad’s recovery to happen overnight. As one day stretched into the next, however, I learned what it meant to wait in new ways. I moved away from a place where I regularly made demands on God, to a place where I could open myself to a place of acceptance – whatever the outcome. I thought of that experience as I read the psalmist’s words from the 123rd Psalm: “Like servants, alert to their master’s commands, like a maiden attending her lady, we’re watching and waiting, holding our breath, awaiting your word of mercy” (Psalm 123:1-2 from The Message). During this season of Lent, many of us are in a place where I was during my father’s convalescence – we want to get through the uncertainty and trauma (the Passion) and move immediately into a place of happy endings and closure (Easter). And yet we are stuck. Stuck waiting. As I learned through the experience with my father, the days of waiting can be pivotal times in our spiritual journey - for those days can help prepare us for whatever lies ahead. Is there an area of your life where you are approaching in an impatient manner? An area where you want resolution yesterday? If so, remember the words of the psalmist and use that difficult time of waiting to prepare yourself for the future. That way, you’ll be a little more ready for what unfolds – no matter the outcome. Til next time…
2 comments:
yup
I think there are at least two kinds of waiting
1. Ananias sitting at the window praying waiting for what the will come.
2. Jonah
a. withdraw/run away
b. failure to recognize progress
c. pouting/depression/hopelessness
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