A few weeks ago, I selected the word “wait” as my one word for the year. Already I see the impact of that word on my attitude and perspective. One of my goals for 2021 was to learn to wait. Wait with Anticipation, Wait in His Presence, and Wait for His Timing.
As I have watched, along with the rest of the country, the events of the past few weeks & months unfold I am keenly aware of the importance of waiting with anticipation. Our information is limited to what is reported, Social Media is abuzz with interpretations of what is happening, and fear of the future is running high.
How do we Wait with Anticipation?
Spoiler Alert – I’ve read the last chapter of the Book, and He wins.
Knowing that the battle has already been won and anchoring our thoughts in that fact is the first step to waiting with anticipation.
In 2nd Timothy 1:12, Paul writes, from Prison to Timothy, “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”
Time after time, in scripture we see people who have faced difficult circumstances, political unrest, riots, persecution, and even death. Yet their unwavering faith in the One who holds our future saw them through.
One of my favorite examples of this is found in the book of Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s image of God. The punishment for this offense was to be thrown into a blazing furnace. Their anticipation in God’s provision is amazing. “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17 NIV)
You know the rest of the story. They didn’t bow down. In his anger, the King ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual. It was so hot that the soldiers who were tasked with throwing them into the fire were killed instantly. God didn’t rescue them from having to go through the fire.
I can’t even imagine what emotions were running through their minds as their hands and feet were bound. But when they were thrown into the fire, they found that they were not alone. Jesus was in the fire with them. His presence protected them and not a hair on their heads was singed and their clothes didn’t even smell of smoke.
The interesting thing about this is that Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego had a certain outcome in their mind of how the events would play out. #1 God would deliver them from the Fire and from the King, or #2 They would die in the fire.
Do you ever find yourself doing that? You are facing a challenge or problem and while you pray about it, you begin to plot the outcomes. You begin to think of the ways that God is going to fix the problem or orchestrate the events to resolve the challenge. When will we learn?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
(Isaiah 55: 8-9 NIV)
God came through for Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego in a way they had never anticipated. He met them in the fire. They still had to walk through the uncertainty and experience the fear that any human would feel going through that experience, but they didn’t have to do it alone. Jesus met them and walked through the fire with them.
Fast forward to current events.
There is a lot of turmoil in our country. The world has been rocked by the pandemic. There is social unrest. We are limited by ongoing quarantine measures in regards to where we can go and what we can do. The reactions of many in the church community have not been a lot different from the reactions of unbelievers. In the words of Francis Schaeffer, “How Should We Then Live?”
Jude pens the answer beautifully in Jude 1: 17-23
“But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire...”
Remember we are not alone. The Comforter is with us. In the same way that Jesus was with Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego in the fire, the Holy Spirit is with us in every crisis and difficult situation we will face. In Psalm 62, David writes: “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”
Don’t get caught up in fear and anxiety as you watch events unfold. Instead, be about the Father’s business and wait with anticipation “for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13 NIV)
Another in the Fire by Hillsong UNITED - click link to listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDZD1SMz6tY
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