Saturday, April 4, 2015

Encouragement for the Waiting: Where Are You Waiting?



"If at first you don't succeed . . . sit down and eat cake." 
~ Elizabeth D. Cornelius

Yes, cake--or, in my case, a bowl of homemade banana pudding (i.e., a mixture of cool whip, vanilla pudding mix, and sweetened condensed milk, layered over wafer cookies and banana slices and chilled overnight). Mmmmhmm.

My reason for eating "cake" (or pudding) is simple:
Originally we were going to talk about waiting "in" Christ in this post, but I got into that during our last Encouragement for the Waiting post. :) Whoops. My bad.

What I was REALLY supposed to talk about in the last EFTW post involved the attributes of God--the One We're Waiting On, but I got sidetracked and got over into my notes for this post when I did that one. Writing at midnight does that to me. I guess that's what I get for procrastination and last minute writing. *deep sigh*

Quick Recap:
As Christians we wait “in Christ.”

Genesis 7:17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

John 3:13 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." [Jesus speaking]

The ark is a type of Christ. In the ark, Noah and his family were safe and would escape the coming judgment. When we’re waiting, we need to be sure we’re in Christ. If you’re waiting outside the ark, you’ll drown.

Facing eternity without Jesus means eternity in hell, but He died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the scriptures (I Cor. 15:3-4), to give us hope and an opportunity to escape judgment. In Christ, we are guaranteed mercy and deliverance. Loving God and loving Jesus is more than just a good social move or "fire insurance." It's about knowing God (the God of the Bible, not just our vision of who we'd like God to be) intimately and surrendering to Him with a deep abandon. Being in Christ involves repentance, turning from ourselves and turning to Christ, giving our all to Him because of Who He is and because of His love for us. As a bride expects fidelity of her groom, and he of her, God accepts nothing less from a relationship than unconditional commitment.

Where Are You Waiting This Easter Season?
While we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, let's remember the seasons of waiting revolving around that first resurrection Sunday. The disciples waited, hiding away from Roman soldiers, thinking Jesus had died forever, though he had told them He would rise again. Pilate and his soldiers were waiting, guarding the tomb in case someone came to "carry away the body" during the night. Jesus, in a sense, waited inside the tomb. Even now, we wait for the day to dawn if the service we attend is scheduled at sunrise. If there are egg hunts, the children have to wait to hunt the eggs. Springtime involves waiting, too, with buds and shoots springing up from the dirt and blooming into riotous, cheery displays.

“Even the most beautiful flowers still grow from dirt.” 
(Author Unknown)


Know this, whether you're waiting in a place of hiding because of fear, or if you're just waiting on God to show you when it's time to make a move, or if the place you're waiting feels like nothing but dirt, never forget that if you belong to Jesus and He belongs to You, He holds you in the palm of His hand.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one.






Coming Up:


I'm so excited about the next six posts in this Encouragement for the Waiting Series, because from here on, we're going to talk about things you can DO while you wait. Active, conscious ways to make the waiting periods of life worthwhile. FUN!!! Join me for these short e-blasts in May as we dig deep and look into personal experiences, quotes and scriptures.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Natalie,

    Love these EFTW posts! They are so encouraging. :) When you mentioned the part about "surrendering with abandon"--it reminded me the Newsboys song "I Want to Live with Abandon." Everything reminds me of a song. :) Have you heard it? It's awesome!

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  2. Hi, englishmysteriesblog!!! I'm bad about breaking into a song randomly when the titles come up in everyday conversation. :) Two that are probably especially annoying to others are "I Told You So" and "Remind Me." Haha!

    I just listened to "I Want to Live with Abandon" to see which song you were talking about, and I hadn't heard it before, but I love it!!! Girl, you know how to pick 'em!

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