Day 6

This is Quentin. I am writing in place of my sweet wife Emily.

Waiting, Working, and Thriving

It is very hard for me to wait when I see something that I want especially when it seems I have no control over the outcome.

One question I am pondering is how do waiting and working find their balance and do they support or contradict each other? Waiting and working seem to contradict each other at first glance. As I reflect on my life it seems that waiting is a central to making me thrive and giving me drive in life.

A few realities and/or beliefs seem to guide my viewpoint on waiting.

I Have No Control

Circumstances happen. we can divert their outcome at times but every circumstance seems to be integrally tied to the next and the next. Thus, we can influence our course but our ultimate course is beyond our ability to decipher or control.

Proverbs 16:9 says "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Even one that denies the reality of God still faces reality. Control is an illusion. Every decision we make, every goal we set is moderated and ultimately at the mercy of a million circumstances. We do what is within our grasp; we have no control over what is in our grasp (if we are honest). Thus, we have no control over the outcome of our decisions or choices. We do not decide where we are born, the economic status of our family, who we know, etc. Although we have control of some circumstances this is only within the realm/ bounds of our given opportunities.

God Is In Control

God is the only viable being to have control of our steps.  All others would fail at the mercy of "mother nature". "Mother nature" is, in fact, no mother at all. Nature has no ability to produce anything sustainable; it lies at the mercy of entropy/disorder. Why is the world sustained if the second law of thermodynamics is fundamental? I am not a scientist (just a plant/horticulture nerd) but it seems that there is likely no viable explanation for the relative order and sustainability of the universe amid its tendency to disorder.What holds it together?

Hope Is Tangible

God sustains. God is good. God is sovereign. God is Just. God is love. God is the God of ALL grace. God is the Gospel (Good News). These truths are at the core of real tangible hope. 

Biblical hope.... lasting hope... God-given hope is not merely a "hope". Hope is a tangible confidence in an unshakable reality. Hope is based on what we see... not with our physical eyes, but see nonetheless. Eyesight based hope (i.e. immediate circumstances) is temporary since it is based on the immediate rather than the long term. Lasting hope defines the present by the future. We do not know the future but, when God steps in, through Christ, his powerful grace unleashes his love in such a way that nothing can steal your future. As a Christian I know my future. I do not know the intricate details but I know that all that happens in the present has purpose. It has the purpose of an all-satisfying, all-good, all-just, all-loving, all-gracious Lord who is holding on to me no matter how well I grasp on to Him. His hold on me keeps me holding on to Him.

Waiting Is Flourishing

Waiting is hard but less and less so the more I grasp onto these realities. The more I see Christ, the more I see God, the more I see life... as an amazing gift. All things are fulfilled (in their purpose) in Him. Popcorn is worthless unless there is a microwave. So it is with life. Life is worthless, we are worthless, until there is God... until there is Christ... until there is the Gospel of God in Christ.

Rabbit Trail....The Good News (Gospel) In Short:

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

rand the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 

Waiting is flourishing.Waiting is hinged on our view of the hope we have in Christ. For the individual that stakes his life on/ hopes, rests in the gospel of God's amazing grace in Christ waiting (through suffering) produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope and hope does not disappoint us. (Romans 5:1-5) Hope is what drives us. Hope is what guides us.  Hope is what anchors us. (Heb 6:19-20) A tree that thrives is the tree that is anchored and planted by streams of water. (Psalm 1) Hope produces waiting. Waiting is flourishing. 

Waiting Produces Working

Isaiah 40:31 "[...]they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint."

Working or growing seems to be a direct byproduct of waiting. Waiting/ trusting in God's gracious sovereignty is the key to flourishing. Humans are dependent creatures and flourishing never happens outside of deep rooting in the gospel of grace. Flourishing produces active, fruitful growth. 

Waiting is resting. Waiting and anxiety never coexist. When we trust, we rest. When we rest we wait.

Growth is work... God's work (primarily) but work nonetheless. Rest produces work in proportion to the degree in which we rest in his grace. Our resting produces perseverance. Our resting produces hope. Our resting and hoping produces more resting. 

Praise God for his amazing gift of resting and waiting on His amazing grace!