Post from July 19, 2023

”👟 RSD 1177 ✅ Today’s Verse: “‘I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago.’” — Psalms 77:11

How are you with waiting? Are you any good at it? It’s ok if you’re not—yeah, something to work on, but it’s just one of those things. Nobody “likes” it, but people seem to mind it to different degrees. There’s some kinds of waiting that people don’t really mind (like for a special event or something) because the anticipation adds something special to it. Like, my favorite day is Friday, and my favorite month is May, both for the same reason: you’re looking forward to the things you’re excited about. So, the anticipatory waiting most of us probably don’t mind (or might actually like). Then, there’s the everyday waiting: things like waiting for the elevator, waiting on a red light, waiting in line at McDonalds (and, you’re going to be there awhile), waiting on a train to pass (and they PARK?!), waiting in line at Starbucks, waiting on finances to work out, waiting for the housing market to stabilize, waiting on food prices to go down, waiting on the Milky Way to collide with Andromeda (not as in boom—the stars are too small and too far apart, and the centers of each galaxy are similar in size—so they’ll just dance with each other in the waltz of similar gravitational pulls until they fuse…all the while the night sky will have twice as many stars, and every night will look like the Aurora Borealis—about a few billion years from now…better take those vitamins 😉), waiting on your professional life to improve (and you work hard), waiting on your social life to improve (and you’re not messy), waiting (and working) to reach a goal you’ve set, waiting on your personal life to improve, waiting for that trip to Europe (or insert destination here), waiting on things you’ve dreamt of your whole life (waiting and working and hoping and praying), waiting on test results, waiting on the world to change (John Mayer reference—I had to 😂), waiting for your prayers to be answered, waiting for when you’ll finally see a sign that things will turn around, waiting for things to turn around.

I know I said, “everyday things,” but, for some people: these are everyday things (even the non-fast food related ones). I don’t mean you grow tired of waiting cause you’re impatient; I mean you grow tired to waiting because you’ve been patient for a long time…and you’re starting to wonder if you’ve just somehow been left behind. Have you been forgotten? Did you manage to go so far in the wrong direction, even though you tried to do right? There are all these things about “God’s waiting room,” and your “season of waiting,” but, for some people this “season” seems more like a “series”…that nobody actually likes, and everyone’s going, “HOW is this show still on?” (e.g. the Kardashians, Teen Mom…hey, you know I’m right). Do you ever sit there like Ariel from “The Little Mermaid,” and go, “When’s it my turn? Wouldn’t I love—love to explore that shore up above? Out of the sea, wish I could be: part of that world.” Yeah, Ariel was waiting too, so she took a shortcut—from the Sea Witch, Ursula…it wasn’t a good move. A word to the wise: if you’re already going to a known sketchy person for assistance and they already have an entire song and dance number (even the eels knew the choreography) prepared for the deal they “just came up with for you”…might want to “just keep swimming” on out of there (yeah, that’s “Finding Nemo”).

Today’s verse is about waiting. I know, you went back and read the top, didn’t you? Here’s the actual main idea: sometimes comfort for the future is found in the evidence of the past. Here’s where the author (possibly a guy named Asaph working with David…you know, King David (vs Goliath, Solomon’s dad)) was coming from in today’s verse (I’m actually pasting The Message translation of verses 2-12 cause it says it all in plain English). And, y’all, this guy was clearly going THROUGH IT. Here’s what was on his mind: “I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord; my life was an open wound that wouldn’t heal. When friends said, ‘Everything will turn out all right,’ I didn’t believe a word they said. I remember God—and shake my head. I bow my head—then wring my hands. I’m awake all night—not a wink of sleep; I can’t even say what’s bothering me. I go over the days one by one, I ponder the years gone by. I strum my lute all through the night, wondering how to get my life together. Will the Lord walk off and leave us for good? Will He never smile again? Is His love worn threadbare? Has His salvation promise burned out? Has God forgotten his manners? Has He angrily stomped off and left us? ‘Just my luck,’ I said. ‘The High God retires just the moment I need him.’ Once again I’ll go over what God has done, lay out on the table the ancient wonders; I’ll ponder all the things You’ve accomplished, and give a long, loving look at Your acts.”

So, today’s verse is more on the latter half of this: it’s how we’re supposed to get through all of these things, how we keep hoping on what we’re waiting for (I guess even the train thing, if waiting for it is stressing you out because you’re going to be late for something important). Read the passage; this guy was just sad, and he was waiting for things to turn around. He was trusting God but was losing hope. That’s human to do, you know? We’re all trying to figure things out with our limited understanding. So, when we’re doing our best to follow the path God has laid out for us, but life gets to be a lot, we wonder. We wonder how things will turn out, when things will turn out, if things will turn out…I think I’m out of question words…what things will turn out? Hmm. I guess that actually works. We wonder. Wondering can be a good thing, as it helps with things like problem solving and creativity. However, because we human things up, when we’re tired and frustrated and anxious and, well, in pain we tend to wonder so much that we wander. And, when we wander it’s often off the path. You know…maybe we know a better way? A better way? Than God does? Yeah, it sounds dumb because it is, but that’s what we do (we just don’t think of it like that). Again, people on pain aren’t the best at decision-making. “People make bad choices when they’re mad or scared or stressed” — “Frozen 2.” What do we do then? Well, Asaph does a good job of showing us here. When we can’t see the future, look to the past, and find the truth. Verses 14, 15, and 20 give us, “You’re the God who makes things happen; You showed everyone what You can do—You pulled Your people out of the worst kind of trouble, rescued the children of Jacob and Joseph…Hidden in the hands of Moses and Aaron, You led your people like a flock of sheep.” Simply, Asaph thinks about all the things God has done. The miracles. The impossible situations. The unexpected blessings. The second (third, fourth, etc) chances. The promises of more of all of that to come.

God is the same God who sent us our Savior Jesus Christ, parted the Red Sea, destroyed the walls of Jericho, created man and woman from dirt, made the sun stay out longer on this one random day during a battle, prompted a kid to fight a giant with a slingshot (and the kid (David) won), ordered the Cosmos, plus all the times where He made sure people came through whatever they were facing…every day around the world, God shows us miracles; there are more miracles from God than we could ever fathom or even imagine. He dreamed up all of Creation out of nothing. So, since He dreamed up the past and all the miracles that happened there, and God is omnipresent/omnipotent/omniscient, didn’t He also dream up miracles for our future? Omnibenevolent. Deuteronomy 3:8 reminds us that “The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” It’s hard for us, but that’s the part we need to wander back to when we spend too much time wondering about the future. Waiting is hard. Sometimes it hurts. A lot. But, we can make it through these times because we can lean on God and “give a long and loving look at [His] acts.” We can use the past to help us in the present and to give us hope for the future because God is in all three. So, as dark as the night can be, and as scary as the dark can be, while we’re waiting on the Milky Way to collide with Andromeda because we’re so looking forward to all the extra stars, maybe if we look up at the sky and find a few stars amidst the light pollution, we can take comfort in that the One who put the stars there made us to shine even brighter (the light from within—shiny in a different way). “The Lord is my light and my salvation” — Psalms 27:1.”