This
year's theme verse is Romans 12:11-13, “Never let the fire go
out... When you hope, be joyful. When you suffer, be patient. When
you pray, be faithful. Share with God's people who are in need.
Welcome others into your homes.” When I read this year's theme
verse, at first I felt all warm and fuzzy , thinking – wow, that is
really great. Hope and patience and faithfulness and hospitality and
helping others - yes, I definitely want all of that.
But I
thought about it and read it again and realized this is what I was
being called to:
- being joyful while I'm hoping for something that hasn't happened yet,
- being patient while I am suffering through a hard situation
- and being faithful to pray when I haven't yet seen an answer to those prayers.
I don't
know about you, but my natural tendency is the exact opposite of
those things. I am more likely to be joyful AFTER the thing I am
hoping for has actually happened, not while I am still in the present
waiting. And being patient IN THE MIDDLE of suffering? I just want it
to be over. And being faithful in prayer? Well, I do pray about
things, but if I don't see an answer to my prayer in what feels TO ME
like a reasonable amount of time, more likely than not I will give
up.
I feel
like these are all related to learning how to wait well. And I have
been doing a lot of waiting this year, and the prospect of being
joyful through it is daunting. Two years ago my husband and I decided
to pursue foster care and adoption. We knew it would take a while,
but we never dreamed it would take this long. The whole process has
been one unmet expectation after another. And now we are one month in
to caring for a newborn, but I don't feel relief. I know I am in for
a whole lot more waiting. Waiting for paperwork and court dates and
who knows what else.
The
great philosopher Dr. Seuss portrays my feelings about it pretty well
in his book Oh the Places You'll Go when
he declares that as we go along in life:
I'm
sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you...
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you...
From
these Bang-ups and Hang-ups we may end up in a Lurch, and then a
Slump, and then we may be afraid and confused and end up in “the
Waiting
Place... for
people just waiting.”
I like Dr. Seuss, and my feelings resonate with this,
but I do have to take exception with a couple things he wrote. First
he calls the Waiting Place “a most useless place.” It certainly
seems that way, but God's word tells me differently. Endurance is
held up over and over again as a useful virtue. Romans 15:4-5 reads,
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our
instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of
the Scriptures we might have hope.” The next verse even calls God,
“the God of endurance and encouragement.” And there are plenty of
examples of God's people who had to wait, and wait, and wait some
more. Abraham and Sarah waited more than 10 years for their promised
baby. Moses and all of Israel waited for decades in the wilderness.
Anna and Simeon were Jews who waited their whole lives for the coming
of Jesus. You don't have to peruse many pages of the Bible before you
find someone who is waiting, even waiting in a situation that seems
impossible. And God promises to use that waiting to transform us. I
wish I could just take a seminar or drink a potion and be
transformed, but it doesn't work like that. The waiting, somehow, is
part of the answer.
Dr.
Seuss also said that “un-slumping yourself is not easily done”,
and he is certainly right about that. But then he turns right around
and says,“That's not for you! Somehow you'll escape.” “Somehow
you'll escape”? That doesn't really offer much help or hope. What
does help?
Well,
Romans 15 already told us that the Scriptures offer encouragement. If
I spend all my time reading or watching happily ever after stories,
which I love to do, I get a skewed expectation of life. And my
expectations will turn into disappointments. But if I look at the
real women and men on the pages of my Bible going through real hard
times, hard times that linger and prayers that are perhaps still
waiting for an answer, that gives me encouragement to persevere in my
faith.
Also,
I can trust God Himself to supernaturally work in my heart and mind.
Rom 15:13 says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound
in hope.” So this is not something I conjure up within myself. I
can ask the Spirit of God to give me joy, peace, faith, and hope. And
instead of seeing troubles and periods of waiting as a time where He
abandoned me, I see them as evidence that He is at work in my life. I
may not like it, but it is a comfort to know He is there and He is up
to something good.
Another
way of “un-slumping” that these verses point us to is by helping
one another. Just before our theme verse, Romans 12:10 says to “love
one another with brotherly affection” (can I change that to
sisterly affection?) and verse 15 tells us to “rejoice with those
who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Our theme verse challenges
us to share with those in need and welcome others into our homes.
That includes the other moms in our MOPS group. We need one another!
One of MOPS tag lines has been “no mom alone.” God designed us to
get through hard times and good times together. It is easy for me to
get in a routine and neglect real connection with others, so this is
a good reminder to not let that happen. Other people in my life are a
way of increasing my hope and joy, and I can do the same for them.
So
how can we be joyful and patient in our trials and waiting? Through
reading Scripture, encouraging one another, and trusting in the
supernatural work of God. The Advent season leading up to Christmas
is a good time to focus on how to wait well. If you don't already
have a planned devotional, I recommend signing up for daily Advent
emails. I plan to read one called Psalms of the Season and you can do
the same by going to christmas.dts.edu and clicking the sign up link
at the top.
This is my prayer for all of us:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13
