"Once we clearly acknowledge the soul, we can learn to hear it's cries. - Dallas Willard, Renovation Of The Heart."

It takes courage to pursue our dreams. It takes time and patience to unearth buried treasure. But I believe with all my heart that we must do both.

12.12.2010

Third Sunday of Advent



Advent Reading

Isaiah 35:1-6; Psalm 145:16, 19; Psalm 130:5

Waiting

"Anticipation lifts the heart. Desire is created to be fulfilled - perhaps not all at once, more likely in slow stages." (Luci Shaw)

Are you waiting for something?

Have you been waiting for a long time?

"It's the waiting that's hard, the in-between of divine promise and its fulfillment, like a leap across a ditch after take-off and before landing.  Most of us find ourselves dangling in this hiatus, which in the interval may seem a waste of time. We drum our fingers on the steering wheel as we wait for the light to change. We wait, gnawing with anxiety, for the telephone call that tells us we got the job. For politicians' promises to be fulfilled. For our health to improve. For our headstrong children to grow up. For Jesus to come and resolve the world's confusion and pain. (Luci Shaw)

"Waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminished a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy."  
(Romans 8:24-26 The Message)

"With such motivation, we can wait as we sense God is indeed with us, and at work within us...Though the protracted waiting time is often the place of distress, even disillusionment, we are counseled in the book of James to "let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete." Pain, grief, consternation, even despair, need not diminish us. They can augment us by adding to the breadth and depth of our experience, by enriching our spectrum of light and darkness, by keeping us from impulsively jumping into action before the time is ripe, before "the fullness of time." I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope." (Luci Shaw)

"Oh my Lord, keep me from frustration and impatience when I see little evidence of your living and growing in me. Reassure me that waiting time is not wasted time. That your purposes for us all are large and all-embracing enough to hold firm and prevail, no matter the obstacles or distractions. You have told us that "now is the accepted time...now is the day of salvation." But perhaps your "now" is different from ours. You see our lives from the infinite perspective of eternity, of kairos. We want immediate action, change, growth in chronos, in "real time." We want to see our problems being resolved, Now.

Help us to realize, as those who love and believe in you, that we, too, are pregnant with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that day by day we are being enlarged. Augment our hope, widen our imagination, and nourish our anticipation that the astounding fact of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" will turn true in us in your good time. (Luci Shaw, God With Us)

Amen

12 comments:

Martha Lever said...

Hi Mary! Happy Sunday to you! I love this post. It is so true. We wait and wait and it's good to know that we are growing and being enlarged in our patience!

Jennifer Richardson said...

Well,
I'm bowled over
with the timing of this
and squeezing grateful tears
out of tired eyes
that,
yes,
are most definitely
sparkling again!
Thanks, Mary.
-Jen

rachel awes said...

loooove your heart painting
& taking in your painting of
waiting words too...
such dear gifts you offer.
thank you mary. xox

Nancy said...

Hey Girlfriend.....
Just reading yesterday that God is never in a hurry......Your post is just what I needed to hear today.......I am blessed because you are faithful......
Love you....

Unknown said...

I could not agree with more....I feel so truly blessed because you are faithful. Thank you so much for sharing.

S. Etole said...

Thank you, Mary, for this message ... sometimes the waiting gets hard.

Poetic Artist said...

This is a great post..Faith..for it is like to me as a child playing with building blocks..It takes the building and the knocking down to make us grow in faith. One block at a time.
Love you my friend
Katelen

Bren Graham Thebeau said...

Seems we've all had our lessons in waiting. Luci says it well so glad you shared this Mary.

Bren Graham Thebeau said...

We look for answers, He looks for relationship

Anonymous said...

Hi Mary,
This was very impactful for me...

Thanks as always for sharing. :)

Blessings,
Tammy

jgr said...

Mary,
Another lovely and well-timed post. And such a beautiful heart painting! Thank you for the inspiration my friend!

Unknown said...

Sister dear you always have the perfect msg for me! Thank you for being so faithful...love you!!!