You Have a Wait Problem

I don't think anyone likes to wait.

Standing in line at Starbucks, airline delays, train crossings and so many other nuisances generally cause most people's blood pressure to rise while their activity is temporarily stopped. Waiting basically means you stop. Stop what? It doesn't matter. When you wait you stop for something to "start" or pass or finish. Yesterday, I had to update some software on this computer... It took over an hour to complete and I had to wait for it to finish before I could do what I wanted.

Many of you know Jamie Whitmore's surgery went well on Friday. She was taken out of ICU yesterday and put in a normal (although Courtney says it's really plush, so for a hospital I'm not so sure how normal that is) room. There she waits... for the feelings to return to normal in her leg, the pain to completely subside and the news, "You can go home now."

Waiting for some means recovery while for others it means rest and still for most of us, waiting is just wrong. The phrase, "I want it and I want it NOW!" was coined by me and about ten million other of my closest friends. I'm sure you're one of them. Whenever we find ourselves is a situation where patience is required we would rather lose the wait if it were at all possible. However, I have found waiting is crucial if not essential for a greater outcome. Instant gratification isn't all it's cracked up to be. Take chocolate chip cookie dough for instance. I have friends who love this stuff. Me! I'd rather pop it in the oven and let it become a warm, gooey cookie. Why? Because I prefer the outcome produced during the waiting period. In this context, another word for wait is "formation." While we wait, we become. This is exactly what God wants for all of us. Waiting is central to the mission of the church. We wait until the Lord returns...

Jesus told his disciples... "Wait... until the Holy Spirit comes upon you." Then before He was taken out of sight, by floating into the clouds, He told them, "You will be my witnesses telling people everywhere about me." And after He could no longer be seen, with their jaws lowered and eyes lifted they just stared into heaven... It took a couple of angels to imply... "Don't just stand there, do something." It was the beginning of the church. They were waiting and they were becoming! (loose paraphrase, Acts 1:3-11)

Here is a story of waiting from Tony and Kelsey Thompson, a young couple from our church who have saved money to literally travel around the world for the purpose of giving it away and helping people in need. Here is one of their amazing stories from Tanzania which I've abridged but not edited...

It started off like any other day. Kelsey and I walked over from our hotel room to the tour company across town. When we arrived our tour guide was late so we sat outside & waited for him. We had only been waiting about 5 minutes when we saw a group of about 25 people dragging his man into a side street/ally... they were slapping his face & kicking him... we asked some onlookers what was going on... he had stolen a cell phone & the mob was trying to get it back. Slaps turned to punches & kicks got harder. Soon the man was really beaten & bleeding... the mob size had grown to maybe 35 now... Our tour guide had arrive by now & we asked him to find out more... 5 minutes later he came back..."He doesn't have the cell phone anymore so now they are going to kill him."...at this point we knew we had  to do something... We walked over with our guide as a translator & asked the head of the mob, "How much is this cell phone worth to you?" He quickly replied, "$40." I took out $40 & told the mob, "I am paying this man's debt. I want your assurance that he will not be harmed after this." ... the head mob guy nodded, took the money & walked away. The beaten man in front of me broke down, embraced my ankles and wept. I knelt down with him & in front of 40 people I prayed & thanked God for his grace... we prayed... we walked him to a grocery store to get him something to eat... there was a guy sitting next to him about our age. He introduced himself as Julius... is a Christian and would be happy to take in the street person for as long as he could... it turned out his name is Stephen... a kid of 16! His parents died recently... There was a cloths market nearby so we shopped for "all" new cloths for him... went back to Julius' house so Stephen could have a shower...Julius thought it would be a good idea to introduce him to his pastor to see if he could help him get a job...Oh yeah, we we also paid for three months rent for the both of them ($13 a month!)... Stephen spoke up and said he knew how to cut hair... we bought all the supplies while the pastor looked for a business place nearby to keep an eye on him... Business space was $20 a month so we paid for 3 to start off with... we prayed with them and explained to Stephen that it was Christ giving him a second chance and not us. He cried tears of joy & promised that he would work hard & tell people what Christ had done for him. AMEN!

When we met Stephen he had no food, was dirty, was being beaten to death, had no home or friends. In about 24 hours time his debt had been paid, life ad been saved, he was fed & clothed, he had a roommate, pastor & friends & at the age of 16 was the proud owner of a barber shop... All in all to change the life of Stephen it cost about $450 and it was worth every penny.

What would have happened to Stephen if Tony and Kelsey were not waiting outside for their tour guide?

When we wait... we become.

The Question... What are you becoming?

(small groups -- Discuss how this story can impact your everyday life.)

And ask yourself, "What is it your wait problem?" And what are you going to do about it? And finally, who are you telling?

Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone the amazing things he does. Psalm 96:2,3 

Thank you Tony and Kelsey for sharing this... thank you Dave and Robbie for your amazing family! You continually bless us.

Hang in there Jamie! You're becoming more and more of who God wants you to be as you wait.

Comments

[Jeff Berg]

Hey Dan,

Thanks for that great post!!! Really hits home with me today.

Jeff

[~JOSh-X]

> "Take chocolate chip cookie dough for instance. I have friends who love this stuff. Me! I'd rather pop it in the oven and let it become a warm, gooey cookie."

Oh, I HATE waiting for stuff like that! I like food I can just EAT. Open the box/container/packaging and just SCARF it! Haha!