My friend Jenn just wrote a great post, to which I commented on her blog. Good stuff, people! In italics is a portion of Jenn's post, and what follows is the comment I posted.
When He is all I have, He is all I need. At times I feel like I have to pretend that it’s true so I can fake-it-to-make-it. And at other times, when there is no tidy solution or easy fix, I find myself certain that trusting in His faithfulness to carry me through is the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning.
He is my Keeper. And that is enough for me.
“When He is all I have, He is all I need”. I really love that God puts us in those positions to have – or feel like we have – nothing but Him. I mean, I hate it at first, and in the middle, and almost to the end but once I realize what He’s doing – that He is being jealous over me, then it gets to the lovin’ it part. I guess I don’t always realize that’s what God is doing. Often I get stuck in the sovereignty battle and just want God to give me whatever I want and fix it so I will feel better. So much of this, I think, is a lifelong thing. God shows us that He is all we need in a myriad of circumstances and life seasons. I think I’m in that spot now in one of the many life seasons of which God will be teaching me this same thing; God is really trying to show me that He is all I need but I’m still in the ‘I’m kinda mad about it because I think I’m not getting what I want” phase; but really, the true desire of my heart is to want Him. Even when I don’t always feel like that is my desire. I love that Jesus works those things out in us; I think it’s partially the result of us working together with God, ya those times when we pray to know that God is all we need (forgetting of course what a difficult thing that is to learn!) and partially just that God is a good and gracious Dad, giving us the very best even when we don’t see what the best actually is.
...and counting down. In exactly 10 days, I will be a college graduate, with my Bachelor's in Biblical Studies.
w.o.w.
I just finished writing my next to last paper. This one was for my Genesis class. And secretly (and now publicly) I really enjoyed it. The research. The reflecting. The writing. As much as I truly do want to be out of school, I think there are parts of it that I will probably still continue. Like researching, reflecting, and writing on Biblical passages. :)
The next paper I have to write will likely be the biggest paper of my undergraduate career. It's a combo paper between a detailed doctrinal statement and how I am wired/prepared for ministry. That will be my last paper. Then I will get my degree. Finally.
In 3 hours, then there will be nine...
I guess it's been long enough in between post 1 on waiting to post the number 2. Not that I have any more answers, just some more thoughts...
Sometimes when I interact with folks, I get to hear some great stories. They provide me with a view of their life like a little slice of sweet fruit. Not the whole thing, I mean rarely do we really see the whole of whatever is going on in our lives, but a bit of their story. I have heard stories of people waiting a long time for__________ (fill in the blank). They pray, they hope, and they continue to wrestle out their faith in the waiting. Some people have waited a really long time; it makes me look like a wuss with my whining about the waiting.
What if waiting wasn't just about the wait though? What if it were about preparation?
What if our God - who knows us infinitely more than we know ourselves - is getting us ready for whatever it is that we are hoping for? Consider Abraham, he waited and waited and waited on God's promise and even died still hoping even though he didn't get to see the complete fulfillment of the promise. Think about the Israelites as they were wandering in the wilderness. God wasn't just making them wait for the heck of it; they had to be ready to step into the land God had promised them - and it took said amount of time to get them there. It seems like we have such a timeline for everything, but the truth is: not everyone graduates college in 4 years. And not that it's bad if you do, but it likewise isn't bad if you don't. I'm talking about much more than just college. We have all these expectations of what life is supposed to look like at each age and then become frustrated when we aren't there yet. But maybe, it's that God is still preparing us. Maybe the wait becomes much easier when we grasp that God is still doing something in us WHILE we wait. It has a purpose.
It still doesn't mean we won't struggle and wrestle. I think that's part of growing. But in that, it means our faith is growing too. And that beings me back to the word with which I have a love/hate relationship: process. It's a process. And waiting's part of it.
