What Are We Waiting For?

Forcing myself to arise from my bed each morning has become the telltale sign that something’s not right in my soul. Although I mouth the words, “His mercies are new every morning; great is God’s faithfulness”, I find myself quickly reverting back to images from the prior day, where I hear another voice whisper, “Why bother?”

The ever present conflict in my head appears in gray matter pixels, replete with shootings, burning buildings, statues flattening, social media hate speech, and general mayhem. Adding to the destruction are the COVID spikes in my state of North Carolina, as fear of the disease rises, continuing in social distancing, and setting masks in their places once again.

The repeated fantasy of waking up to hear good news from any media source seems to be fading from my mind. Not here. Not now. And I still shake my head in disbelief that people can get away with outrageous acts, purposefully destroying what belongs to another, with no apparent consequence.

And then it occurs to me.

The system is broken. And the expectation of perfect justice, amicable love and unity, and peace is ultimately a façade. It will never be perfect in this current, fading world and we all would do well to stop inflaming the narrative by demanding that it be so.

Jesus succinctly said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”-John 16:33 Yeah, I don’t like those 4 words either. So what do we do when we are in the midst of this “trouble”? I like to wait it out…ride the tide…step aside and let the dirty water get sucked down the drain. But this wave appears to have frozen in time, actually increasing in size and destruction, and I feel the Lord egging me on to action.

As I’ve waited for the Lord to come through and speak peace to this storm, to eviscerate the virus, to return our culture to some kind of normalcy, I hear His gentle voice inviting me into His strategy. I have prayed. I have sought Him. And now He is wanting me to take action according to the unique way He has designed and gifted me as I’m reminded that even Peter walked on water at the beckoning of the Savior.

It seems to me, that as believers in Christ, we have all the power of God at our fingertips available (2 Peter 1:3), we are called “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37), and we house God’s very Spirit (1Corinthians 6:19)! And yet, we tend to whine and complain, we jump on bandwagons when we don’t fully investigate the cause we support, or we act helpless during troubling times.

But God has called us to more. He has called us to wait for His timing and then to act. He wants us to use the “weapons of our warfare [that] are not carnal for pulling down of strongholds…” (2 Corinthians 10:4). And what are these weapons?

I believe they are:

~ Prayer…speaking to God about what is impossible when looking through my human eyes, yet confessing that HE is still completely in control and has the power to change what I am incapable of changing.

~Praise/Worship…there is nothing more glorious than singing or speaking out the truth, setting my focus on the magnitude of who God is. This release is a gift from God to help us unburden ourselves.

~Speaking out the Word…yet another reminder of truth in a dark and deceptive world…so powerful, the enemy has to flee at the Word of God!

~Fasting/Prayer…we don’t do this with all our food addictions, but it is a powerful way to stay the course, helping us to focus on the Bread of Life, who we truly hunger for in a world that has not yet “tasted and seen that He is good”.

~Our testimony…words that cannot be refuted as they apply to the experience we have had with the living God and His power in changing us from the inside out.

These are just the beginning of change in a godless culture. Revival could be just over the horizon as the darkest hour is just before dawn.

But we can no longer simply wait.

Grab a hold of sisters and brothers, step out onto the unknown, and pray like your life depended upon it! Encourage one another, share a meal, and pray with one another (Acts 2:42). Love one another from the heart (1 Peter 1:22). And reach out and love your neighbors!

The time is now as we see the Day approaching. No more waiting.