Week One: The Gift of Waiting...
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us; we wait for light, and lo! there is darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in gloom...We wait for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.
Isaiah 59:9, 11b
On the surface, justice cannot be found in Ferguson. Both sides feel persecuted. No one knows how to get out of the darkness. We look for causes, point fingers, research “the situation.” We find no solutions.
Politics seems swallowed in darkness. World events show no light. We live in a county that has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the nation. The cans we bring may fill a belly, but we still walk in darkness as to the causes of hunger. We haven’t fixed the problem.
Biblical waiting is not conditional. We cannot agree to wait as long as we are seeing God at work on our behalf. We cannot agree to wait as long as we are sure God will vindicate our side and condemn our enemies. We cannot agree to wait as long as it is not too long. We wait because God is God. Because we are God’s. Because we are asked to trust in God’s ways and purposes.
However, our waiting is not passive. God never instructs us to do nothing while God acts. God’s instruction is to obey. A life of obedience defines discipleship. We spend our days loving God and our neighbor as ourselves. We spend our days doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God. We spend our dark days doing the things that God teaches us will bring light into the darkness.
On the surface, justice cannot be found in Ferguson. Both sides feel persecuted. No one knows how to get out of the darkness. We look for causes, point fingers, research “the situation.” We find no solutions.
Politics seems swallowed in darkness. World events show no light. We live in a county that has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the nation. The cans we bring may fill a belly, but we still walk in darkness as to the causes of hunger. We haven’t fixed the problem.
Biblical waiting is not conditional. We cannot agree to wait as long as we are seeing God at work on our behalf. We cannot agree to wait as long as we are sure God will vindicate our side and condemn our enemies. We cannot agree to wait as long as it is not too long. We wait because God is God. Because we are God’s. Because we are asked to trust in God’s ways and purposes.
However, our waiting is not passive. God never instructs us to do nothing while God acts. God’s instruction is to obey. A life of obedience defines discipleship. We spend our days loving God and our neighbor as ourselves. We spend our days doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God. We spend our dark days doing the things that God teaches us will bring light into the darkness.
It may well be that the darkness is our gift. If we could guarantee light with our results, we are too easily tempted to think the work is ours, the control is ours, the transformation is ours.
Too often, gloom and darkness envelop us. But we continue to walk. We don’t sit in the gloom, waiting for it to dissipate. We walk. We don’t see light. We don’t experience justice. But still, we walk.
God, we wait for you. Guide our steps as we travel through the gloom. Bring your light into our darkness, your shalom into our world. Amen.
Too often, gloom and darkness envelop us. But we continue to walk. We don’t sit in the gloom, waiting for it to dissipate. We walk. We don’t see light. We don’t experience justice. But still, we walk.
God, we wait for you. Guide our steps as we travel through the gloom. Bring your light into our darkness, your shalom into our world. Amen.
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