My favorite way of learning about my Lord is through the wonderful community I've built here in Missouri. Watching my brothers and sisters grow in their own faith, seeing their struggles and learning from their successes and failures. Learning about God's commitment to our happiness, His sovereignty and abundant grace through the wisdom of those I love most. What an awesome God He is for allowing me to be a part of each of these precious lives.
Over the past few weeks, I've heard about people "waiting on the Lord" -- a phrase I've heard many times before. Waiting for an answer, waiting for affirmation, waiting for a green light. Practical, right? After all, He is our Father and He has plans for us that exceed anything we could ever have for ourselves. But I think there's a bit of a grey area in this concept that is often ignored.
There is a fine line between waiting on the Lord to move and waiting on the Lord to move for you.
There's no doubt in my mind that the Lord moves various components of our lives around on a regular basis. As I've said before, He knows us better than anyone else. He wove our hearts together Himself and knew us by name before we were even a thought on this Earth. To move ahead in life before consulting the One who makes all things work together for your good is a silly concept. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."
But I do believe that there is such thing as too much of a good thing.
There is a fine line between waiting on an answer and waiting for the job to be done for you.
Imagine you're in a relationship with someone. The two of you have been dating for a while but things are starting to get complicated and you aren't sure you want to continue the relationship. You decide to talk to your father about how to handle the situation. He provides some great advice and explains his reasoning, but gives you the free will to handle the situation accordingly.
After that conversation with your father, you have two options. You can get out of that chair and take action in the situation yourself, keeping your father's advice in mind. Or you can remain stagnant in that empty room of confusion, waiting for your father to break up with your boy/girlfriend for you.
It's so easy to fall into the trap of a standstill. To sit in a wooden chair in the spacious room of your faith and wait for God to walk to you. To say, "Alright, God. I'm here waiting. Just let me know when you figure out what to do next and then I'll start to move again." To be still to the point of stagnant and static complacency and little growth.
One of the most beautiful parts of Christianity, in my opinion, is the gift of free will. The fact that THE Creator of this universe wanted me to have the ability to make decisions -- both right and wrong. He knew that I would slip up and take a heap of missteps and end up on some path in the middle of nowhere because I thought my plan was greater than His. He knew that struggles would come and go, yet God trusted me with free will anyway. He doesn't want us to be mindless robots, sitting in a chair, waiting for an answer on a silver platter before we even think to make a step in any direction.
Our Daddy has given us commandments. He's given us parables, Old and New testaments, and an abundance of resources through Him and His people for advice and guidance in this world. We are equipped with the resources to act on the free will we are given and live life. It's a massive jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing and torn edges and who knows where the original box went. But God isn't going to put that puzzle together for you. That's your job -- but He is always there to help.
There are a lot of "character roles" that God fits into in my life, but one of the biggest and most prominent is the role of a mentor and teacher. God teaches me about morality, about purity and selflessness and grace and love. He gives me books to read and homework passages and little life quizzes here and there with a decent amount of huge tests thrown in. I'm entrusted with these resources so that I can learn about His magnificence and love Him even more. Sure, I'm bound to make mistakes in the curriculum. I get questions wrong and misinterpret scripture and forget important commands and end up straying from His plan for my life. But that's life. That's free will. That's what we're given through the grace of God because He loves us that much. He lets us make mistakes and stumble and fall so that He can pick us right back up again and point us in the right direction. But no matter how much pointing God's hand does in your life, YOU are the one that has to put one foot in front of the other and move.
I don't mean to say that every decision you make through free will is going to end up in catastrophe. There are some amazing things that have happened in my life that have been a product of both God's wisdom and my choices. My free will is a reflection of His teaching, of His presence in my life and my own ability to trust in Him. It's a combination of all sides that ends up working together for our good because the Alpha and Omega is in control.
On the other hand, remaining seated in the chair of indecision and fear will paralyze you in the end. In my mind, that stagnant state of being is a sign of avoiding struggle. When I'm scared to make a mistake, when I'm scared to do the wrong thing and end up moving the wrong direction, I often put my faith on pause and wait on the Lord -- but in the wrong way. I sit in that same empty room of confusion and wait for God to come make the move for me.
I know that He can do it better than I ever could, so why should I even try?
Romans 5:3-5 says, "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured onto our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Free will provides us an opportunity of growth and learning in order to dive deeper in our relationship with Christ. By failing, we succeed. It seems backward at first, but think about it. If our free will always worked out perfectly 100% of the time, what would be the point of this faith? What would happen to God's role in our lives if we never struggled, never stumbled, never fell short?
Stop waiting for the Lord to get the job done for you. Stop sitting stagnant in that chair, in that big empty room. It's empty. There's nothing there for you. Take action, seek the Lord. You will fail Him, I can promise you that -- but He is prepared for your shortcomings. That's one of the reasons He loves you so much! He knows that, through those struggles, you will grow closer to Him and trust Him even more.
Nuff said! He has given you His wisdom. You are wise beyond your years because....you listen. So proud of you!
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