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“I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.” Psalms 62:1
One of the hardest things we learn to do is wait. It was the first lesson many of us had to learn in kindergarten! We had to learn to wait in line and stay in our place! It was brutal brutal cruel punishment for some of us. But it was an important lesson for us to learn.
For some of us however, we never really learn. Much, if not all credit card debt is because of our inability to wait. All this to the tune of an estimated 13.8 trillion dollars! (2020)
One reason waiting is hard is because we yearn to be fulfilled, to find contentment in the midst of turmoil. Whether it be material possessions or relational desires or anything else we long for, when we fully trust God for our needs it makes it easier to wait for his moving.
Waiting on God means that we have learned that his timing is best in every aspect of our lives. Our ultimate victory comes from him and not from our own efforts.
I’ve often looked at this verse from 2 Corinthians and focused on the beautiful promise of the first half of the verse. NEW creations! Not refurbished. Not remodeled. Not modified. NEW! That’s grace! My loving Heavenly Father took this worthless pile of flesh and made something new. And, might I add, God don’t make no junk!
Then one day, rather somberly, I spent some time on the rest of the story.
“The old life is gone…”
Is it? The question haunted me. Yes, I’m forgiven. The debt of my sin is eternally washed away. On the inside I’m new, but this battle raging inside me continues on. Some days I’m strong and watch the enemy retreat. Some days he wins the battle.
Jesus’ invitation to follow him is no party. Instead of balloons there is hardship; instead of cake, temptation; the ice cream is replaced by worry. That’s when I’m also reminded I was never called to walk this road alone. My strength was never a factor, only my reliance on him.
Paul had a similar struggle he tells about in Romans. He loses with the reminder that only the grace of Jesus will rescue me from the battle. Some days I lose the battle. Some days I win. But in the end the war is won because of the empty tomb!
Father help me to live worthy of this new body. Give me a Holy Spirit power to leave the old behind and dwell in the new!
“I can’t get no satisfaction.”
The song was released in 1965 but the feeling has been around for as long as mankind. It was a lack of satisfaction that gave the Devil the tools needed to tempt Eve. It was the lack of satisfaction that caused the first murder. It was the lack of satisfaction that characterized the lifestyle of the woman at the well. She’d gone through five husbands and didn’t even bother marrying the current guy.
Her visit to the well that day brought the satisfaction she’d longed for her entire life. Water. Not just any water, living water. Not a cup full, but rivers of it flooding forth like an eternal spring.
There is no end to the satisfaction we get through Jesus. There is no fulfillment outside of him. Those who rely on their own strength, their own religion, their own efforts question God’s existence because they are looking for the wrong thing in the wrong place. Their cravings are never satisfied. Their soul constantly cries for more.
When money and ego are the most important thing in your life you will never be satisfied. With Jesus in first place, you will never be in need.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 