Why Wait?
04/05/2004
What are we waiting for when we are not ready to give our hearts to God?
Are we waiting for something horrific to happen in our lives--then we will turn to God in our anguish?
Are we waiting for it to make more sense to us--then when we fully understand each piece of this mystery, we will be willing to accept it?
Are we waiting for someone else to draw near to God--then we can follow in his or her footsteps?
What are we waiting for?
And what if we are caught short? What if we are going to wait until that Easter Service we normally attend-this is really the year to make that decision, but today ends up being our final day on this earth? Are we really willing to wage our eternity on waiting for Easter?
Heaven is for an eternity, but so is Hell, I think we all need to understand that!
Now, if Jesus is not true, if God is all a hoax, if Christians have been duped for years, then all this faith is useless, I grant you that. The Bible even says that:
1 Corinthians 15:14
And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless,
and your trust in God is useless.
Verse 17:
And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is
useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins.
Verse 18:
In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished!
Verse 19:
And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most
miserable people in the world.
I broke these verses up because I want you to really see this!! Even God's Word, the Holy Bible through Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament is saying, look folks, if this is not all true, then we're all idiots and we have no hope. And if we believe this only for this life, "we are the most miserable people in the world."
Paul is not pulling any punches here. He is spelling it out like it is. Either this is true, and we give our whole lives to it now, or it is not true and we forget the whole thing because a little bit is not good enough-a little bit will only make us the most miserable people in the world!
Why would that be?
Because a little bit means we have to be perfect on our own. Even if there is a God, but Jesus is a hoax, it means we have to work our way to heaven, and that is exhausting. It means that each time we fall short, we are not forgiven because Jesus didn't really die for our sins. As Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:16, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised." So sin and death would not have been conquered and we are being foolish in even thinking that it has been done for us. We must work, work, work...and hope for the best when the end comes--really try to be good people and hope that God has pity on us and He sees everything we have accomplished trying to work our way into heaven but always falling short, always feeling condemned, always wondering, waiting...
Why do some of us choose to wait in that wondering when we don't even have to?
That is torture!! That is misery! Why would we wait?
Why would we not dive in and find out if there's Living Water waiting there for us, instead waiting and wondering if there really is anything more to this life than what we have experienced so far?
What is living water?
The Bible explains it this way:
There was a Samaritan woman at the well getting water and Jesus asked her for a drink. She was surprised because "Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans."
John 4:9-14
She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman.
Why are you asking me for a drink?"
Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and
who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."
"But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this
is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water? And
besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this
well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his
cattle enjoyed?
Jesus replied, "People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water.
But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a
perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life."
Don't we get thirsty in this life for something, anything?? Aren't we searching every day for a little excitement, a little peace, a little hope that we can hold on to? I know I would be if I did not have Jesus in my life!!
When I think again of that truck parked across the street with the Darwin sticker on the bumper, it hurts me. Do you want to know why? Because when I look at that, it is like they are sticking a big sign up in my face saying, "You will never see your son again!" Youch! That cuts to the core!! It makes me think that we need to be a lot more careful about what we put on our bumpers if we are truly trying to love one another. I am not angry with these people, but it saddens me to think they have no more hope than that! Is that what they are expressing? I guess I should ask them...
Jim and I saw a car the other day loaded with bumper stickers. At least three that talked about how the occupant of the car was against the death penalty. How it is not right to teach people not to kill people by killing people. Interesting thought, but then we noticed another sticker, it was a Pro-Choice sticker! What? You're telling us that you do not agree that we should punish murderers by killing them, and that's fine, that is your opinion, but now you're telling us that we should all have the right to kill an innocent baby? I mean, take one stand, or the other, but that seemed like sheer lunacy to us!
Bumper stickers--the impressions they can make on those around us as we drive the streets of this country! We might want to think about what we put on our bumper a bit more. I used to have a license plate frame that said, "Go topless, you only live once." I drove a convertible, just to clear that up for you! I thought it was funny for a long time, until I felt convicted by God about it. What was that really saying, how was I representing God by that? I prayed about it and asked for an idea for a new license plate frame, something that better expressed the new walk I had with God. I eventually changed it to say, "Step by Step, Dancing with God." That felt better! That seemed more appropriate! I wonder how many people I offended with the first one...I wonder how many people gave God a moment of their time as they read the second one? I hope a lot!
We should all drink God in as we walk through this life. God does not call us to live each day parched and weary from the walk! He offers us His living water. I like the way it talks about it in the Message Bible.
Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again
and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst-not ever. The water I
give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
John 4:13-14
Sounds pretty good doesn't it?
Things are heating up here in Arizona! Most of the Snowbirds, as they're called, are heading north again. They come down here for the winter months and when the temperatures start to rise, they go home! We are staying at least one more month and then we have been given the good news that our next stop will be Carson City, Nevada!! We are pleased with that location!
But as the weather heats up, Jim is out walking in it daily! He takes lots of water with him but I can tell the days when he has not had enough to drink! He comes in, sits down, and drinks, drinks, drinks. In just a short period of time, he starts to come to life again, so to speak!! That's good to see.
How many of us are going through our lives parched like that! How many of us come in at the end of the day and need something to drink? How many reach for something that will do them more harm than good? We probably shouldn't even start counting! How many just don't know what they need, but feel restless and uneasy, looking for something more in life than what they are experiencing?
That is what Jesus offers us each day! His Living Water! Water that will quench that "thirst" we feel inside for something more! And yet, we wait because we are not sure we want to drink from that "well." What are we waiting on?
Some may say I lead a pretty boring life right now. I spend a great deal of my time alone. Most of my social contacts were left behind, Jim is gone all day and soon I could even be without transportation if I do need to go somewhere. Jim may need the truck for work. What will I do then?
Do you want to know something? I am not bored!! I am more excited about life than ever! Each day I spend a lot of time at the "well" drinking in the living water that has been offered to me. Each day I ask God what He has for me on this day, and there is always something that needs to be done. A lot of it is writing, some of it is drawing, some is putting together things like the booklet I just finished. Also, my brother is writing some music and I talk with him frequently about that because he is using many of the things I have written on this journey through grief to put together some songs that will speak to that. God is always opening up new doors, new people to meet, new things that He is teaching me during our time here. Each day is exciting because each day is not mine, it is His, and I never know what He has planned. I live in an "expectant" mode, and each day is like opening a new gift!
This is not because life is exciting!! This is because God is exciting!! This is
because when He is the Master Planner, His plans thrill me! It touches the
deepest part of my heart, my deepest desires, and He makes them a reality when I
delight myself in Him.
Seem a bit too simple? See my message on ""Keep It Simple." It's the truth!! God is good, and He does not complicate things for His own amusement! He keeps it simple for His children by offering us Living Water each day that springs up from within.
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and
shouted to the crowds, "If you are thirsty, come to me! If you
believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that
rivers of living water will flow out from within." (When he
said "living water," he was speaking of the Spirit, who would
be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not
yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.
John 7:37-39
Jesus knew what was to come. He knew He was to be crucified, He knew He would rise on the third day, and He knew what this offered to the people who believed in Him. He was offering them the Holy Spirit, who would live inside each believer after He was gone. This is where the rivers of living water flow from!
When we say, "No wait. I'm not ready."--We stop this from happening. The Holy Spirit does not live inside of us, and there are no rivers flowing. We are dried up, sort of like all the rivers here in Tucson...they are extremely dry! I talked with a new friend yesterday and she said that when they moved here, she looked on the map and saw rivers flowing all through this area. She thought, "Oh good, we can kayak there." Well, there certainly are rivers here, but there's no kayaking going on anywhere right now, if there ever is. Maybe after a flash flood, there might be, before they dried up again!
I remember doing the El Tour de Tucson ride here. That was 100-mile ride I did for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society a few years ago. It was actually 111 miles, but who's counting!!! I was, every mile!! Anyway, as we rode around the area that surrounds Tucson, we had to cross at least two rivers, on our bikes...well actually, we were off our bikes because of the sandy bottoms in these rivers. The rivers were dry and the sand was thick--we carried our bikes on our shoulders to get across! It was fun, really!
Would we want to live our lives like that though? Knowing that the rivers of our lives could have fresh living water flowing through them--instead we carry the load across, rather than let it flow from within.
Some continue to wait...
And we wait...
And we try to decide if it is time...
And so we wait...
What if it's not true?
What if I look like a fool?
What if...you name your "What if's" if you want...while you wait...
I didn't wait too long, I said, "Yes" to Jesus late in my teen years, but there is something I did wait on. I waited to make Him my everything. I waited until the storm was bad, really bad!! The waves were crashing, and it wasn't living water flowing, it was a flash flood!! Phil was sick, it was Leukemia! I felt like I was being washed away downstream, never to return! I started to paddle, and paddle hard. I prayed to God, "Help me!" but I didn't know Him well enough to know if He would! I hoped He would, I read that He would, others told me He would, but I didn't know. I had waited, and now I would have to find out the hard way!!
The years went on, and I kept calling out to Him, and as time went by, as I got to know Him better in the storm, He started to calm the storm. Not in my life, but in my heart. I knew He was with me, I knew He was helping me; I knew that I would never have to "paddle" alone again. I handed the paddle over to Him, and I rested...as the storm raged!
He took the paddle, and He guided me. The storm still raged, but He knew the way. There were still rapids, and rough water. There were still big drops and huge boulders to go around, but God knew the way. Then the day came when there seemed to be a swirling mass of water that would pull me under for sure...Phil was gone. He slipped out of my hands and entered the gates of Heaven...It seemed so dark to me, but it wasn't. It seemed that I would surely drown, but I didn't. It seemed that I would never even care to ride in the "boat" again, but I do.
I had waited on God. I had waited to get to know Him like I should, but He never waited on me. He was always there, guiding me and helping me. I just didn't know it yet, because I was waiting to see if I could do it on my own. When I discovered that I couldn't, that I didn't want to, God didn't wait! He stepped right through the door of my heart that I had opened for Him and took charge. He rescued me! I would not drown! This was Living Water now, not muddy, dirty rivers of life caused by a flash flood!
I didn't want to wait anymore. I never want to wait again. I want the Water He
gives. "The water I give will be an artesian spring within,
gushing fountains of endless life."
John 4 (Message)
That's the water I drink now!
It is fantastic!!
The best "Spring" ever discovered!
If you're waiting out there, don't! Jump into the river of life today, throw your whole heart into believing God is there for you! He will catch you! He will not let you drown! You will discover a part of life that you never even realized existed, because you have only experienced dry riverbeds if you have not said, "Yes" to Jesus yet!
Don't miss out on "gushing fountains of endless life."
Do it before Easter!! Be bold!! Then celebrate our Risen Lord with everyone else
who believes this Easter!! It will be so refreshing!!
He is Risen Indeed!
Diane
