Waiting on God.

For those of you who have been around me this last year, you will know that I am mildly obsessed with this concept. Perhaps it's cause no one ever told me about it. Last night I was looking through some of my junior high and high school journals and quite times (the very few that I did as requirements for mission trips). I was learning all the right things, and what I was saying was good, but there was something missing. Here is what I was thinking. I must give up everything and serve God so that He will be pleased with me and use me for His work. Sounds good right? Well here is what happened in my head subconsciously, I was having a "faith" in God by obeying him and doing good works that he commanded me to do for Him and for his kingdom. What's missing? I mean both statements are fine in the right context, but they need a foundation underneath them, and that foundation will change everything. I think this is what I was missing: I was thinking about myself instead of God.

If my focus is on myself: What I can do for God's kingdom, how I must work to be like Christ, how I must serve God and be like Christ, those two previous statements go downhill really fast. I fall into to this pattern of thinking everyday. Here are some possible lies that might go along with thinking about yourself, and I think that most of these are more subtle in your head then the actual statement itself. I must earn God's Love. God is only concerned with what I do, and not who I am. I derive my worth by what I do. I must perfect myself so that God will be able to use me for his glory. I must obey God's will for my life. Why doesn't God reveal his will for my life so that I can do it. The emphasis on all of these statements in the I.

What then does it look like to focus on Christ? I think, though I could be wrong on this, that humility is the key. Essentially that is what humility is. It isn't low self esteem; denying yourself and then looking at yourself. It is rather denying yourself and then looking at Christ. Here is some truth that follows this mind set. If I did nothing for my entire life, God will still love me (but you won't do nothing cause as Paul says " the Love of Christ compels us"). God is more concerned about me then what I do. God is my strength. God is my hope.

I could go on with that list, the bible is full of truths like this, but I think you get the point. The main idea in those sentences is God, and the action is what he does. To me this makes perfect sense, God does everything and the only thing that we can actually do ourselves is submit to God (or display humility). What if God gave us a lot of commands with the intention that he wanted to help us. What if his entire goal for us doing anything at all was that he wanted us to realize that it was too difficult for us to do on our own so that we would turn to him and be dependent upon him. What if he asked us to "do" so that we might learn to "be". What if his entire Goal for commanding us to do things was so that we might learn to have a relationship with him. The Holy Spirit plays a huge part in God working through us and in us, but I won't get into to that now, I just wanted to mention it cause it's huge.

Obviously there is more to this then I am simply stating here, and I realize I could be wrong on all this. 1st John says that we love God by obeying his commands. I still don't know how that fits in to what I just said. Perhaps the focus on God rather then our obedience is the key, but I'm not sure. Perhaps obedience is the key and I've got all of this backwards. I've asked a lot of people and haven't got many response back. If you have thoughts, I would love to hear them, especially if you don't agree with what I'm saying.

To close, here is a great quote out of Andrew Murray's trilogy on sanctification called "Walking with God". The book is actually three books, and this quote is from his book entitled "Waiting on God". I think he does a better job of explaining this concept then I ever could.

"Dear Christian! Do you not see that waiting is not one among a number of Christian virtues, to thought of from time to time, but that it expresses that disposition which lies at the very root of the Christian life? It gives a higher value and a new power to our prayer and worship, to our faith and surrender, because it links us in unbroken enjoyment of the goodness of God. 'The Lord is good to them that waiteth for Him'

Let me press upon you once again to take time and trouble to cultivate this so much needed element of the Christian life. We get to much second-hand religion from teaching of men. That teaching has great value if, even as preaching of John the Baptist sent his disciples away from himself to the the living Christ, it leads us to God himself. What our religion needs is more of God. Many of us are too occupied with our work. As with Martha, the very service we want to render the Master separates from Him. It is neither pleasing to Him nor profitable to ourselves. The more work, the more need of waiting on God. The doing of God's will then be our meat and drink, nourishment, and refreshment and strength. 'The Lord is good to them that waiteth for Him'. None will know how good, but those who prove it in waiting on Him. None can fully tell how good, but those who have proved Him to the utmost."