Waiting, but living in the now

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"I waited patiently for the Lord, (Psalm 40:1)

      It seems as though we are always waiting for something. And while we wait we are tempted to believe that life will be better on the other side of the fence, when we arrive at the point for which we are waiting.

        But that's a lie. Life is always green right here and right now. As Ann Voskamp simply and yet, poignantly states, "God is always good, and we are always loved." The still waters and green pastures are here and now, because God is here and now.

"As the deer pants for flowing streams, 
   so pants my soul for you, O God. 

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 
   when shall I come and appear before God?

 My tears have been my food day and night,
   while they say to me all the day long,
      "Where is your God?"

 These things I remember ,
   as I pour out my soul:
      how I would go with the throng
         and lead them in procession to the house of God
      with glad shouts and songs of praise,
         a multitude keeping festival.

 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
      Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
           my salvation and my God.
Psalm 40:1-6a

      I can enjoy the now, the waiting time. I can rest and be at peace, regardless of what I'm waiting for. I can live in the reality of now because my God is trustworthy, my salvation, my refuge and hiding place, the Satisfier of my soul, the living God. I can have hope, even when the circumstances of my life are misunderstood by those around me, even by myself. I can trust in the One whose judgments are unsearchable and whose ways are inscrutable (Romans 11:33).

     I can be full of hope,
 - because my God has given me His Spirit to enable me to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

 - because I have a city, not built by human hands, "that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Heb. 11:10).

- because I am chosen, (Eph. 1:4)
                         predestined to conformed to the image of His Son, (Rom. 8:28-30)
                         predestined to belong to His Son, (Eph. 1:5)
                         redeemed, (Eph. 1:7)
                         forgiven, (Eph. 1:7)
                         lavished with grace, (Eph. 1:7)
                         sealed with the Holy Spirit, (Eph. 1:7-8)
                         graced with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (Eph. 1:3)
 - because I have an imperishable inheritance, (1 Pet. 1:4)

. . . and those are just a few of the promises that I can claim today, right now.


   

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