Seana began with this absolutely mouth-watering (that's right) analogy of our patience with God: gourmet cookies. No, seriously, disussion almost stopped right there because we all totally got into imagining our personal favorite gourmet cookie (like you're not completely distracted by that thought too -- don't lie). When we get impatient with God, it's like giving up and settling for some stale animal crackers you dug out from somewhere instead of getting the tray of gourmet cookies that God is busy preparing just for you. (Gives whole new meaning to that "taste and see that the Lord is good" verse, huh?)
We looked at 2 Peter 3:8, which exemplifies how God's timing so completely different from ours. We may not like it (1,000 years is like a day -- what?!?), but that's the deal if we want what He's got for us. And when we look at 2 Peter 3:9, we see that "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness."
Seana gave us a couple of good Bible examples of people who had promises from God, but had to wait a while before He could complete His promise -- and it probably wouldn't have taken so long if they had really understood the concept of waiting. First up was Abram and Sarai (later renamed Abraham and Sarah). God had already promised them a son, and they were already pretty old (Abram was 76). Sarai got bored with the whole "waiting on God" process and decided that if Abram had a son by her servant Hagar, that'd be good just as good as God actually fulfilling the promise Himself. She got Abram to agree, and Ishmael was the result. Yes, Ishmael, whose existence caused strife between Sarai and babymama Hagar, but whose descendants have been in constant strife with the Israelites down through the ages (which is what happens when one group decides to try to wipe another off the face of the planet).
Next up was Isaac's wife Rebekah. Get's pregnant with twins, and God let's her know that one of them (Jacob) is going to grow up to be more powerful than the other one (Esau). But she has a problem with the fact that by birthright, Esau is supposed to be more powerful. So what does she do? She decides to fix that problem at the source by convincing Jacob to trick Isaac when it was time for the birthright blessing to be given. The result? He got the blessing from Isaac, but he also got death threats from his twin brother, had to run away from home (the Bible doesn't even mention him ever seeing his parents again), got tricked into marrying somebody he did not want, and ended up working 20 years just so he could leave with the wife he wanted in the first place!
Okay, so we got the point that taking matters into our own hands does not work. And we have it from the One who spoke the universe into existence that when He says He's going to do something, He's going to do it (see Isaiah 55:11). So what do we do while we wait for it?
- Dayton said to prepare. You can't get on the bus if you're sitting at home with your ticket instead of at least going to the bus stop.
- Seana said to not lose faith. Like she mentioned before (and reminded us with Numbers 23:19) If God has made a promise or said He would do something, then it's gonna happen. We just have to wait for it. Even David had to wait and deal with life (and the threat of death) between the time we was anointed to be the next king of Israel (as a teenager) and the time he actually became king of Israel (when he was 30). He even became king of Judah (a portion of Israel) at age 24, and could have settled there, but that wasn't the completion of God's promise to him.
- Heather reminded us to not focus soley on the thing promised to the exclusion of the God who made and will fulfill the promise in His time. It's just like idolizing any of God's creation over the Creator.
- Kevin said to take care of what/where you currently have to work with. He mentioned three scriptures about starting where you are and not giving up: Proverbs 27:18, Luke 19:17, and Isaiah 40:31.
- Dayton also said to reflect. David talked about his previous victories when facing Goliath, not just to show off, but also to pump up his faith in God in the face of the coming battle.
1 comment:
Ok, so Seana did an awesome job last time. I love how her topic of waiting on God is where I left off with my message. That wasn’t planned; maybe it was a God thing? As Alicia said, Seana began with a great example of equating waiting on God to waiting on a mouth-watering cookie. As she spoke, I felt my toes being stepped on because how many times have we become impatient and eaten an animal cracker when our most favorite cookie ever was merely cooling off? Why can we not be content with leaving matters in God’s hands instead of pushing our timetable on Him? I know waiting on something you really want is hard but, in keeping with the cookie example, doesn’t that make the cookie taste all the better? Imagine finally getting that cookie. It’s still warm because it’s fresh from the oven. You hold it in your hands, so excited to finally HAVE it that you can only stare at it. Then you slowly pull it apart, the chocolate chips gooey and perfect and then you take a bite. Oh, it’s even better than you imagined. You close your eyes and sigh in delight (ok, after I finish this, I’m going in search of a cookie!). Yet what if you didn’t wait? What if you decided the cookie wasn’t worth it and settled for second best? Not only are you missing out on what you really want, you’re not trusting in the Baker’s ability to give you the cookie at the right time. Sometimes waiting can feel monotonous and frustrating and you’d rather watch paint dry than have to wait. Yet through waiting we learn patience and how to rely on God. No, waiting is not always easy and we’re sometimes tempted to eat stale, store brand animal crackers but by waiting we get the absolute best and it’s definitely worth it.
Note: I’m making chocolate chip cookies for Tues. so be prepared!
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