Waiting Well

Sunday's message wasn't recorded so I put some of my notes down here:

Waiting Well – November 29, 2009
Psalm 25:1-5


Introduction

• People and churches celebrate Christmas in different ways.  Usually it all gets lumped into the title of ‘Advent'.'
• Ultimately advent calls us to a place of expectant waiting.
• Waiting is an inevitable part of the Christmas season.  It is an inevitable part of life.  Life really is all about waiting.  Life is comprised of line-ups.  We can’t change that fact, so we have a few options:
  

          o Get in a different line
          o Leave the line
          o Take a shortcut or budge
          o Get angry and blame others
          o Enjoy the moment and be patient

How can I enjoy waiting?
Waiting well has everything do with perspective and God’s Word is the best place to get it...

Psalm 25:1-5, NASB
"…To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day."

Have you ever asked yourself why you dislike waiting?

• We fear we’ll miss out; or
• We are greedy and we want what we want right now
  

Aren’t these fears and greed similar to the Garden of Eden?  Adam & Eve feared that they were missing out, instead of waiting and trusting God.

Our dislike of waiting comes ultimately from fear (lack of God’s love [1 John 4:17-18]) and distrust.


v. 1      "…To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul (being, life, self, person, desire, appetite,             emotion, and passion).

v. 2      O my God, in You I trust (confidence, security, rest).  Do not let me be ashamed (shy, humiliated, or seen where it looks as though God has disregarded or forgotten me)

• When someone budges or takes a shortcut AND it works…  they don’t seem to suffer any consequences… it makes us seem like fools… fools for waiting in line with the rest, fools for not being bold enough to take a step, fools for waiting… the result is we are ashamed (humiliated).
• The psalmist is saying “may I not be humiliated for not forcing or budging my way in the line-up of life.”
  

Do not let my enemies exult over me.

What goes through your mind when someone budges in front of you?
“What makes them so important?”

• “I want to do what they just did.”
• “That’s not fair, I deserve to be ahead of them.”
• “I better do something and bring justice.”

Last year a 6’4”, 270lb Walmart greeter in New York was trampled to death by a line-up of people waiting to get in to the US Thanksgiving Sale.

What about the real line-ups in life.  What do you do when…

• Someone gets a promotion you were waiting for.
• Someone buys something that you have always wanted, but couldn’t afford or couldn’t justify.
• Someone has a baby and you’ve been trying for years.
• Someone’s kid is better at something than yours.
  

v. 3      Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;

We have to trust in God – that by waiting (even though at times it seems like we are behind and others are enjoying the benefits of their shortcuts) at the end of the day it will not be us looking like fools, but that our waiting on God’s timing will have been the wise choice.

Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.

• People that budge or take shortcuts will get bitten.
• Sin is really taking shortcuts in life or budging…  it is taking control, not trusting God, and relying on your own understanding and greed to get what you want.
• Purity is all about waiting in the right line and in God’s timing.
  

v. 4      Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.

Continue to pursue God, obeying Him, following Him… He will place you in the right line and even though you may not understand why you are in the longer line, you can be confident to know that it will all work out in the end.

Waiting = TRUST
Budging/Shortcuts = SIN

v. 5      Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day."

Allow God to show you what line-ups are right.  Some, even if you’re patient, are just simply the wrong line-up (i.e. illegal/immoral activity; disobeying God)

We think we know better than God, but we need to be taught and to trust Him when He says wait.

Christians don’t see life as line-ups because they don’t see the front of the line as the destination.  They see their place in the line as the destination.  They seen an opportunity to trust God; to live in the moment; because they are confident in the hope they have in Christ.

That hope translates into patience, peace, and selflessness.  It translates into the perspective that if God wants me at the front of the line that bad, he’ll part the red sea to make it happen.  I’m not afraid that I’ll miss out because God know what I need and He’ll provide for all of my needs.

Bring on the line-ups because I can’t wait to trust God even more.