The Kibera Slums, Nairobi, Kenya, July 2010
Today, I read this article by Paul Tripp entitled, “God’s Will for Your Wait.“Â He talks about the Israelites knowing how to wait those 40 years in the desert…and how those years of wandering were more about WHO they became while waiting, than what God eventually blessed them with after the Wait was over.
Now, it’s not always easy to picture the Israelites or to put myself in their shoes. But, after reading Tripp’s article, it did made me think of the orphans I visited in the Kibera Slums of Nairobi, Kenya in 2010. They, of all people, know how to WAIT…not just for the Tangible things of life (food, medicine, water), but more importantly, for Intangible hope. Some live in the streets, day after day, just waiting…waiting for someone to give them something to eat, waiting for someone to love them, waiting for someone to make them laugh and even for a second, forget about the miseries of life in the Slums. Ultimately, they are the ones waiting for knowledge of the absolute truth that a Savior lives to offer them eternal life.
It’s rather pathetic, you know…how my own “waiting” pales in comparison! I wait for my alarm clock to go off…the water to get hot…the coffee to be ready…the red light to change to green…the metro car to arrive…the computer to turn on at work…the lunch to heat up…the response back from someone I e-mailed…the Internet browser to obey my every click…the work day to be over…the work-out class to start…the phone call back from a friend…the list goes on and on…our waiting is so temporal, isn’t it? Rarely do I think about my waiting in terms of God’s macro-level sense of Time. It’s no wonder – we live in a world where immediate gratification to our every whim and demand and wish is not only desired and expected, but even sometimes deemed as a legitimate “entitlement.”
Tripp’s article is rich with truth throughout, but here were my favorite two excerpts:
“Waiting is…very positive, purposeful, and spiritual. To be called to wait is to be called to the activity of remembering who I am and who God is. To be called to wait is to be called to the activity of worship: worshiping God for his presence, wisdom, power, love, and grace. To be called to wait is to be called to the activity of serving: looking for ways to lovingly assist and encourage others who are also being called to wait. To be called to wait is to be called to the activity of praying: confessing the struggles of my heart and seeking the grace of the God who has called me to wait. We must rethink waiting and remind ourselves that waiting is itself a call to action.”
“There is one other thing waiting is meant to do: God intends that waiting would make me long for home. Waiting is meant to remind you that you live “between the already and the not yet.” Yes, there are many, many things for which to be thankful in this life, but this place is not your final home. You are in a temporary dwelling in a temporary location. In the life and ministry you experience here, there is one aspect or another that can remind you this is not home. The hardships of your present life and ministry speak clearly: this is not the final destination. Waiting is meant to produce in you a God-honoring dissatisfaction with the status quo. Waiting is meant to make you hungry, to produce in you a longing. For what? To be home—home with your Lord forever, home where sin is no more, home in a world that has been made completely new. As you wait, keep telling yourself, This is not my final destination.”
Waiting is not just about what I get at the end of the wait, but about who I become as I wait.
Article from The Gospel Coalition Blog: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc