By Rev. Aidan Moon
You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.Psalm 130:5-6 English Standard Version
I’m not the best at waiting.
I tend to be one of those people that maps out exactly how long it might take to get somewhere. This does not serve me well when anything unexpected slows me down. When I am forced to wait.
A year or so ago I read a book called “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer. Now, there was plenty in there that challenged me. Parts were a bit of a wake up call. But it made me realize how so often my to-do list and my tight schedule keep me from appreciating the waiting. Comer mentioned the “spiritual discipline” of actually driving the speed limit. It probably says something about our world that this could legitimately qualify as a spiritual discipline. But I did find that when I focused on simply not rushing, if I built more margin into my day, and learned to appreciate the moments of waiting, I was suddenly open to life as something else: life as a gift.
Spiritual disciplines that force us to slow down (meditative prayer or reflection on Scripture, for example) are not legalistic requirements for us. Jesus says about the Sabbath, that day of stopping, ceasing, waiting in dependence, that it is made for man, not the other way around. It is a gift. Instead of being a box to check to make God happy, they are a gift to us, spiritually healthy for us, allowing us to see the grace which is already present. Every moment is precious. All things are given. And even a moment in traffic might give you the space to pray, to breathe, to reflect. God has created us. He has redeemed us. And he redeems even our time of waiting. Waiting is the discipline of knowing that God, in the end, is the one who makes things happen. He makes the plants grow. He makes faith grow. And sometimes, my place in that is simply to wait in trust, eyes open, on the lookout for God’s work of grace.
Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado
