Waiting Does Not Mean Wasting Time

I came across this meme on social media tonight:

I think it is good. I would, however like to clarify what "waiting" is about in this context.
Keep in mind I have not remarried yet in almost 7 years. I have had no steady relationships in that time since I was abandoned, and my first marriage ended. Yet I am really involved with ministry more and more. My miracle ministry that survived divorce has been preserved by the Lord. I am to teach and to preach and to minister in my local church. That is my privilege and honour. Whether I get married or not, this is my calling. It is the cross I bear. What is the cross you bear for Jesus?

So to this meme I say:

Yes of course waiting on God is important.

But... It is also important to position oneself for receiving. One must keep praying in Jesus' Name, and keep asking and keep seeking. It's not enough to just sit back and do nothing. When some people think of waiting they imagine themselves sitting in a doctors office, waiting to be called. No.

In this context, "waiting on God" means working for Him in your calling. It means you do not act outside His will, but you DO act according to His will. Waiting on God does not mean standing around doing nothing, wasting the gift of singleness. The more years one can get in doing the work of God, the better. Because once marriage comes, your time will be divided and you will have to please both The Lord and also your spouse. Believe me, that is no easy task.

(1 Cor. 7:32-33)

 

Wait on God by praying for your future spouse to come. Then ....get back to work! Serve Jesus. Spread the Gospel. Love one another in the churches. Serve God in the ministry you have. All Christians have a ministry. Be faithful.

Go all out for Jesus as a single. NOW is your time to serve and bless Him and bless others. You will never again have this THIS level of freedom to please the Lord. You will never again get this many options where you are free to make choices in Christ without considering a spouse's plans or feelings.

 

You have a commission. Serve God in it, and really press into your love relationship with Jesus Christ our God and Saviour. Don't think that waiting means wasting. Not a chance. Waiting means you position yourself thankfully and prayerfully, and then get busy and do what God called you for in ministry.
Yes, you keep putting yourself in position for meeting a special person. But your focus must remain on your calling. The only way you will ever know who to marry is by cultivating your calling in Christ. Jesus does not call us to marriage or singleness per se. He calls us to love Him, to spread His Gospel, and to die to self and follow Him. THAT is the call. In a word, the call is DISCIPLESHIP. And, regardless of your marital status, marriage cannot ever be more important than discipleship. And the geographic details of your call will vary from mine. Nevertheless, now is the day to serve God and worship Him and love Him.
Love those He puts in your path. Feed the sheep with the truth of Jesus Christ, who is the Bread of Heaven and the Living Water. In 1 Corinthians 7:7, Paul calls marriage and singleness "gifts". They are not the call, but gifts. The Call is always discipleship. And discipleship is always an individual experience before the Lord. Discipleship cannot be blocked by marriage or family or past or current condition. As you read through 1 Corinthians 7 you realize the key is not found in marriage OR singleness. The key is this,

 

1 Corinthians 7:171599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

¹⁷ But as God hath distributeth to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk: and so ordain I in all Churches.

 

 

God bless,

Pastor Curtis

Thank God for Mirrors!

I wake up in the morning, head towards the bathroom, get ready for my job in retail... and as I am getting ready to head out I look in the mirror and- Woah.... is that my HAIR? Immediately I break out the gel and the comb and try to tame it. Or, I could just walk away and forget about it. But then, for the rest of my day, my coworkers will mercilessly call me "Beaker" from the Muppet Show.

Falling to an even worse fate, are those who look into God's word, but forget what it says about Him or themselves. James in the New Testament describes the Scriptures as a mirror.

He wrote:

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."
-James 1:22-25, English Standard Version

It says that you are deceiving yourself, if you think that Christianity is all about hearing. You are saved only by believing and confessing Jesus (simple faith). This confessed faith in Jesus is the only way to be a child of God. But fathers expect their children to be obedient. They love their children. The Heavenly Father loves His children so much, that He develops and grows us using discipline, reassurance, and devotion. All these things are part of Father's love for us. So we as God's children in Christ need to listen to Him, and do what He asks of us.

You can hear the preacher and read the word and talk all you want - but until you act, your words and hearing are fruitless. Jesus desires a people that are just like Him. Did you notice what it says in verse 24 above? It says that the man forgets "what he was like". Well, I don't ever want to forget about being like Jesus! The word helps us learn what Jesus is like and the Spirit helps us become more like Him!

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" Romans 8:29 ESV

This verse tells us that God knows the ones who will respond to His grace and call. Those who do respond are the ones he plans to be made into the image of Jesus His Son! God wants His son Jesus to have lots of siblings! Us!

So if we read the word - and say "yes that's who Jesus is, and I'm to be like Him"- great. But, will you remember it- and do it? He wants you to trust His Holy Spirit to make the changes in you, as you cooperate with Him, so that when we look into the mirror of God's word, we no longer see ourselves, sinful and wicked. No, we will look at ourselves and only see the indwelling Spiritual presence of the pure and spotless lamb, Jesus Christ! For example Jesus tells us to bless those that curse us, so we should remember to do it the next time some guy cuts us off on the road. I am speaking to myself too. It's little things like this that the Spirit will remind us to do.

I may have survived as Beaker, but unless I remember to do what God says, things will truly get hairy.

Let's hope for this:
"...When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
1 John 3:2b,3 KJV

This "hope" John refers to is that "we shall be like him", like Jesus. I hope to be like Jesus, in character and quality. Do you? Then let's follow Him, and respond with cooperation to His directions!

~Curtis J. Alexander