To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God moulds us according to God’s love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control. ~Henri J. M. Nouwen
Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
~ Psalm 27:14
It will happen beloved. The stuff will hit the fan in our lives. Either today or tomorrow or both, something unexpected and weird will happen. The breadth of the unexpected is incalculable. Circumstance hammers into the present moment in seemingly random portions and frequencies. Our moods change. Our lives are constantly phasing in this world. The world we now inhabit is not real enough to have any cleats to which we can attach anchors or ropes.
And we know it. The randomness of this world creates an impulse in us. This impulse makes us want to do something about whatever is happening to us in the moment.
Hold that thought. Take it captive. Stop.
But!….
Stop. Really beloved. Just stop.
When something jumps up in our lives, anything we do “right now,” other than coming to a full stop in our spirit will, almost assuredly, create both direct and collateral damage in the situation. This is one reason that it is so important to live “now,” or in the present moment. If we are looking too far behind, or too far forward in time, we may miss the opportunity to do the most important thing in an emergency situation: stopping.
OK, now we are in temporal lock-down at ground zero in the explosion that has just happened (whatever it is). Now what?
Drop.
Drop (dive, dash, crash, fly) in under the protection of G_d. Surely, He is there already. i am talking about the conscious decision in our spirit to yield to G_d’s rightful position of Authority. We need to get to our knees, whether in spiritual or physical posture, as quickly as possible, and reckon that G_d is in business, and G_d is in charge.
Time is of the essence, but everything about us has got to be all about answering the question flying around in our heads, i.e., “Who is in control here!?!?” Hint: Say (and mean) Jesus.
Now, anything from here is hugely better than us just going off on impulse and trying to fix some situation on our own. We’ve ceased from action for the moment, and reckoned clearly who is the one calling the shots.
But, the toughest choice is not that which is between good and evil. The toughest choice is that which is between good and optimal. What next?
Wait.
Isn’t that just stopping? No, stopping is like keeping from running into something. Waiting is like sitting with a friend like you have no better place to go.
How long do we wait?
Well, answering that question kind of misses the whole point. Waiting does not include a time element. Waiting is a state of being.
It is a little like the baseball player standing at the plate, waiting for a pitch. Surely, timing is everything, but time has nothing to do with the equation of batting. A really good hitter actually watches the ball come off the pitcher’s fingers and waits to see what kind of pitch is coming his way. He stands in the moment and counts the threads on the ball as they turn with the spin of the ball. Everything else must go away from the batter’s mind. No time, no hurry, no thinking… just waiting for the ball to arrive. From the stands, a fastball only takes a fraction of a second to reach the plate. To a pro baseball player standing there waiting, a ball can take all night to arrive at the point of contact. They have learned to wait. And this, paradoxically, makes them extremely responsive and fast.
Waiting is that timeless period wherein we take on all the instruction, wisdom, grace, strength, power and courage that is required to fulfill the will of the One who we have reckoned in charge of our situations. In that reality which is measured by a clock, waiting might take decades – or milliseconds. Again, “how long” is not the point. Waiting is just waiting.
Then what?
Wait and see. The One in charge never fails and never changes.
“Stand still” – keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders,
cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice;
and it will not be long ere God shall say to you,
as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel,
“Go forward.”
~C.H. Spurgeon
