Life is a collection of not-yet moments.
You’re stopped at a light waiting for it to turn green. You’ve landed in your destination city but now you’re waiting in the baggage claim. You’re engaged to be married, but the wedding day is not yet here. You’re done with your chemo treatment, but now you’re waiting to hear if you are in remission. You’ve taken your COVID shots, but now you’re waiting for the world to get back to normal.
Life is what happens while you’re waiting for the next big thing. The next big moment. The next romance. The next degree. The next promotion. The next house. The next bonus. I love the line in John Lennon’s song:
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
Waiting is incredibly hard. The agony of the not-yet moments can make us do stupid things. If we’re not careful in our waiting, we can rush ahead of God and find ourselves where he isn’t.
In the book of Genesis, God comes to Abraham and promises to bless him with a child. But his wife, Sarah, was barren. And they were both old in age. So, this whole scenario was rife with tension. Abraham and Sarah are given a promise from the Lord. But they are forced to wait. They find themselves in that in-between space, in their not-yet moment.
And this is when they get stupid, anxious, and fearful. Sarah decides that the whole thing is too hard and it’s taking too long, and she makes the executive decision to take matters into her own hands. She tells Abraham to sleep with her slave, Hagar, so that she could give them a child. Nine months later, Ishmael is born. And in their rushing ahead of God, Abraham and Sarah end up where he isn’t.
But praise be to God that he always finds us and calls us back to himself! Abraham is one-hundred years old, and Sarah is ninety when she gives birth to Isaac. Just as God promised!
This is where faith comes in. Faith and waiting go hand-in-hand. Faith is trusting. Faith is hoping. Faith is submitting to God because He knows best. And faith is also waiting! It’s about waiting on God to fulfill His promises, in His time, in His way. Waiting on God is not giving up, but giving in. Waiting on God is not inactive, but an activity that takes everything that you have. That’s why we read in Psalm 130:5:
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.
What are you waiting for today? What are you tempted to do because waiting is so hard? What does your faith in God demand of you in your not-yet moment? How you process and answer these questions will determine whether you have an Ishmael or an Isaac.
Let me encourage with these words from Psalm 27:14:
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
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