{"id":6217,"date":"2015-12-03T10:14:29","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T16:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/?p=6217"},"modified":"2015-12-07T17:05:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T23:05:03","slug":"learning-wait-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/2015\/12\/learning-wait-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to wait with Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em class=\"copywrite\">Lectionary readings for December\u00a013, 2015:\u00a0Zephaniah 3:14-20;\u00a0Isaiah 12:2-6;\u00a0Phillipians 4:4-7;\u00a0Luke 3:7-18<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/in\/transforming-resources\/lectionary-calendar.shtml\">Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle C) and guidance on using the lectionary<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>\u201cIf we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.\u201d \u2013\u00a0<\/em>Romans 8:25<\/p>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>No matter how disciplined,\u00a0organized and prayerful you are, you never outgrow\u00a0waiting. Tracts of humanity wait: for a job, peace, rain, a great love, medical care, disaster\u00a0relief, a spot on the team, an acceptance letter. The homeless wait for homes. Refugees wait\u00a0to return home. Elderly people wait for their savings to run out.<\/p>\n<div>You would think with years to practice, we would get the hang of waiting. But how many\u00a0of us would rather get our teeth drilled than wait? Yet learning to wait with Jesus is part of\u00a0becoming Godlike.\u00a0God is a waiter\u2014patient enough to sustain a deep desire for a long, long time. God can\u00a0wait for us and not force a time table. God values what can happen in the long, slow and hard\u00a0of waiting. People who know God learn to wait:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Abraham and Sarah wait for God\u2019s promise and timing.<\/li>\n<li>David waits to become king.<\/li>\n<li>Habakkuk waits for God to rescue.<\/li>\n<li>Israel waits for the Messiah.<\/li>\n<li>Mary waits to find out if Joseph will marry her.<\/li>\n<li>Anna, Simeon, John the Baptist, Jesus, the people in the upper room wait.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>God\u2019s people learn to wait with God in the present moment. Because that is the only place\u00a0God is found. The past with its regrets is irretrievably gone. The future with its what-ifs is out\u00a0of our control. But now, right now, it is possible to be with God. It is possible to wait and say\u00a0yes to God in what is. Waiting is where we learn to let go our timing in this traffic, our disappointment\u00a0in this decision, our hurt in this comment. Waiting is where we learn to let go of\u00a0our control and expectations, and trust that God is good no matter what is happening.<\/p>\n<p>Waiting is the crucible where we develop a mellow and forgiving heart. Waiting with God is where we learn how to be happy when we don\u2019t get our own way. It\u2019s\u00a0where we get practice in learning how to forgive reality for being different than we want.\u00a0Waiting is where we learn how to forgive people for being their less-than-perfect selves, and\u00a0waiting is where we learn how to forgive God for not being like a magician, a conjurer or a\u00a0wizard\u2014like Albus Dumbledore.<\/p>\n<p>Waiting with God teaches us to let go of our expectations \u00a0so we can receive what is given. No one has to be transformed through waiting. Waiting can turn us into demanding, angry or depressed people. But if we will embrace waiting with God, the great gift of developing a mellow, forgiving heart is ours for the taking.<\/p>\n<p>Waiting doesn\u2019t mean you are doing something wrong. It doesn\u2019t mean God hasn\u2019t heard\u00a0you. It doesn\u2019t mean you are wasting time. Waiting is an invitation to wait with God for the\u00a0God who comes \u201cto us like the spring rain\u201d when it is time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0;\"><em>Let us acknowledge the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0;\"><em> let us press on to acknowledge him.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0;\"><em>As surely as the sun rises,<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0;\"><em> he will appear;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0;\"><em>he <\/em>will come<em> to us like the winter rains,<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0;\"><em> like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:3)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>SPIRITUAL EXERCISES<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>When you end up waiting, practice letting go of your need to control. What happens?\u00a0Notice what comes up while you wait and talk to God about it. You can use the time that\u00a0is given\u2014or you can waste it in fretting.<\/li>\n<li>Practice waiting by not interrupting or by allowing others to speak before you do. Ask God\u00a0to help you listen more deeply to what is being said so you can respond with grace and love.<\/li>\n<li>Choose to drive in the slow lane. Write a snail-mail letter. Eat your food slowly. Take the\u00a0time it takes to do these things well.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"copywrite\">\u00a9Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. 2015. Not to be reproduced without permission. This article is adapted from revised and expanded\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/resources.transformingcenter.org\/products\/spiritual-disciplines-handbook-expanded\">Spiritual Disciplines Handbook<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(InterVarsity Press, 2015.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"copywrite\"><a href=\"http:\/\/resources.transformingcenter.org\/products\/spiritual-disciplines-handbook-expanded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6256\" src=\"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/SDH-blog-ad2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"628\" height=\"118\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/SDH-blog-ad2.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/SDH-blog-ad2-300x56.jpg 300w, https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/SDH-blog-ad2-1024x193.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lectionary readings for December\u00a013, 2015:\u00a0Zephaniah 3:14-20;\u00a0Isaiah 12:2-6;\u00a0Phillipians 4:4-7;\u00a0Luke 3:7-18 Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle C) and guidance on using the lectionary. \u201cIf we hope for what we do not&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":6238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-words"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v26.2) - 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