Saturday, March 5, 2011

Character: A Spirit of Waiting

The character of Christ embodied confidence in both the purposes and the timing of His heavenly Father.  Even when we trust in the Lord's ultimate purposes, we have a tendency to forget that His timing is perfect as well.  As our character transforms more into the likeness of Christ, we will feel the reality of Isaiah 40:31 in our lives.  We will have our strength renewed.  We will soar above the mountains of life and the boulders which seek to crush us.  We will run the race God has set before us without weariness, and we will embrace life's daily drudgeries with a heart that does not faint in discouragement!

The disappointments, struggles and heartaches of life are many.   God allows the the tough stuff of life to call us to to look to Him, to place our confidence in Him.  We must choose:  we either succumb to the temptation to doubt the power and goodness of God or we can allow His Spirit free reign and wait in confidence.  Often our reaction to the struggles of life is to rely on strengths in our human character; in fact, in our own strength we can accomplish much and survive even terrible heartaches.  But the Christ-like Spirit is the work of God alone; it is our spirit submitted to Him.  Only the Spirit of Christ within can evidence patient confidence to the very end of our journey of life.  The example of a spirit able to wait with faith--absolute trust--in God is a blessing to all who walk alongside. Our own strength has limits; His has none.  Our courage will eventually fail; His perfect knowledge gives Him complete confidence.  God created us to have amazing capabilities, but we pale in His glory.  Let us choose to allow His Spirit to fill us, to propel us and empower us!

Family Chat:

What have you struggled to wait for? (a present, a trip, a visit)

Did anything happen while you waiting that discouraged you?

How do you cope with discouraging things?  Do you get angry?  Do you trust that God has a better plan?

In Genesis, God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be put into slavery but that He would free them and they would have great riches.  God is always faithful to His promises but it was over 400 years before this happened.  How do you think Joe Israelite born 300 years into this time period might have felt?  Did he have hope?  Did he think God forgot His promises?  Can we rightly judge situations with our own view?

What does the Bible say about God's faithfulness?  Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 36:5; Hebrews 6:18

Consider these verses describing Jesus in Revelation 1:5, 19:11.

No comments:

Post a Comment