Longing

 

We, however, are free citizens of Heaven, and we are waiting with longing expectation for the coming from Heaven of a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20, WNT)

Wait. 

There is something in our fallen human nature that doesn't like that word. I don't know about you, but I'd rather hear "no" from God if I can't hear "yes", because "wait" feels Way. Too. Hard. 

I've written about waiting before on here, in a different context. I still believe there is much to be learned in general while we are waiting on answered prayers, or guidance, or any number of waitings in life. But these days, I've been walking through this more personally, as I am doing plenty of waiting in light of our upcoming wedding - waiting on wedding appointments, waiting on the day to get here, waiting to experience biblical oneness, waiting on the day we begin our lives together and no longer say goodnight from separate residences. I am learning anew that waiting really is hard! My fiance and I have intentionally chosen to use the phrase "eagerly anticipating" rather than "can't wait" - we want the reminder that this is a positive process, and that we can wait in His strength. But it's still hard. 

As Rich Mullins wrote in "The Love of God" - we are tested and made worthy during life's challenges, but it is all within the love of God. As my fiance and I have intentionally leaned in to the benefits of waiting, we have learned so many things. We have learned that God speaks to us in the longing. We have seen ministry opportunities open up specifically because we were obedient in the waiting. We have learned that it is our flesh that wants to avoid the pain of waiting - just as we tend to want to avoid any suffering - but to avoid suffering means we also avoid the growth. We avoid the very thing that can draw us closer to Him. 

As I have leaned into the hard and studied God's word about waiting, I have learned how deeply connected it is to longing. When we "expect something fully", we wait for it with longing. When my parents lived hours away and would come visit, I would hear every door that slammed, every car that drove by, and run to see if it was them. I longed to see them and fully expected them to show up. In the same way, I "fully expect" to walk down the aisle less than a month from now and take covenant vows in front of our covenant community with my groom-to-be. We know this will happen - and yet we long for the arrival of that day. 

As I studied the words for waiting in both the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament, I was astonished to learn how deeply these words capture the emotions associated with this season of waiting: 

• To fix the eyes and mind on a thing; to "hunt" for it
• To be strong, robust, gathered and bound together
• To wait with patience and trust
• To give unremitting care
• To show one's self courageous
• To be in constant readiness for something
• To expect fully
• To not depart
• To be pained
• To receive to oneself, admit, give access to oneself

All of this boils down to one thing for me: Biblical waiting is inextricably linked to longing. Simply put, we wait with longing for what is worth waiting on. As we have focused on our upcoming marriage as a picture of Christ and the church, we are learning that wrapped up in our waiting is a picture of the longing the church should have for her Groom. We should wait "with longing expectation" because He is worth it. As we wait, we have been drawn closer into His presence - and we're learning that is indeed the point after all.

 

Joy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I'm tested and made worthy
Tossed about but lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God

Engaging in Love

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith,

so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

-Philemon 6

The Apostle Paul understood something about balance.

Throughout his writings, he consistently strikes a balance between overly personal, pietistic religion on one hand and often hypocritical, external religiosity on the other. Readers of the New Testament will see clearly a call to a radical, personal faith as well as a bold, public witness. I believe that if he were here today, he would reject both the claim that religion should be private and personal (the "naked public square" argument much of Europe has embraced), as well as the idea that we can impose faith from the top down. Based on the full range of his writings, and his example in the book of Acts, I believe Paul would vocally defend the concept of an "open public square" - the idea of freedom OF religion, not freedom from religion - and that he would firmly hold to his belief that the light of truth would speak louder and shine brighter than the darkness of deception.

But Paul also understood something about motivation.

He understood that even Spirit-filled men and women needed encouragement to step into that public square. In his day, there were very few "open public squares" indeed (his experience in Athens was certainly not the norm for him). Believers in many parts of the Roman Empire took a great risk when they shared their faith in any form - whether they simply made their faith known as the motivation for their actions, or responded when asked about the hope that was in them, or boldly preached or taught in a public setting. So Paul, writing to one man known for his faith, laid out a principle that could motivate someone who might otherwise find himself staying silent.

Simply put: The more we share our faith, the more we come to understand just what we have in Christ. As any teacher knows, the best way to cement a lesson is to teach it to someone else. Passing on our faith becomes the divinely-appointed means of strengthening that same faith. In fact, Paul says it's the only way we'll obtain a full understanding of all the good things association with our relationship to Christ. All the Bible study in the world (as crucial as that is!) will not yield the depth of understanding that we will gain from communicating our faith to someone else.

So how, in the still-open public squares in the US and a precious few other countries, or in the naked public squares of Europe, or in the hostile public squares of some parts of the world, can we do this? What should be our relationship to the cultures in which we find ourselves?

Much has been written about Christianity and Culture, but I believe the answer is a simple Biblical principle that transcends all cultural forms: Engage in love.

We are always going to have a fleshly tendency toward fear of man which causes us to either attack or withdraw (fight or flight). When we attack, we create an "us against them" mentality. This mentality does not advance the kingdom of God; if you need proof just look at the Crusades, a horrible mark against the church that mingled selfish motivations with fearful ones and has resulted in entire segments of world that are still closed to the Gospel today. Withdrawing doesn't help either. Withdrawal can look like pacifism and result in tolerant relativism ("all religions are the same"), or it can look like isolationism ("let's just hang out with other believers and wait until Jesus comes").

Engaging in love, however, conquers fear (1 John 4:18). It conquers our fear, but it also becomes a tool to conquer their fears as well. Engaging in love reveals the heart of God to others who may have misconceptions about who He really is. Beyond fulfilling the Great Commandments, engaging in love opens the door for us to fulfill the Great Commission.

So how do we engage in love? There are as many answers to that as there are individuals in the world. A great place to start is www.thejustlife.org, where you will learn much about Biblical justice which the site defines as "love made public." One of their key principles, "Start Small, Dream Big", highlights a continuum from compassion, to incarnational action (loving and meeting needs of one person in unique ways), to community justice, to societal change. The common element to all these is that engaging in love is required. We don't get there by staying in our comfortable homes and churches and never taking the risks of love.

Even as we start to engage, we can be sure God will constantly call us to new levels of love and service, of new opportunities to share our faith. Because He wants us to fully understand all the good things that are wrapped up in knowing Jesus. I have a feeling I've barely begun to scratch the surface.

Holding the Orne River Bridge

Last Sunday, as I try to do every year around the anniversary of D-Day to honor my grandfather's service in that epic battle, we watched "The Longest Day". For the first time I noticed the critical role of a small group of men in holding the Orne River Bridge.

Dropped into Normandy before the rest of the group, they had one objective: Capture and hold the bridge. The success of the entire mission was critical to this one task; without the bridge tanks and supplies could not get into Normandy. The men were charged to "hold until relieved" - no matter how long it took.

This scene left me reflecting on the strategic kingdom assignments God gives us. Sometimes we realize it; most often we don't. We wonder why we are "stuck" in a small area while what we perceive as the "real battle" rages elsewhere. We don't realize that God intends for us to hold the bridge to facilitate the ultimate victory.

Maybe you're fighting a spiritual battle at work. Maybe you're serving faithfully in the church nursery. Perhaps you are on the prayer team for a missionary you perceive as doing the "real work". God might call you into focusing on one person for years, developing a deep relationship for His purposes. From a kingdom perspective, you may just have an assignment within a unit that is holding a key bridge.

God puts together specialized "units" (churches) for His purposes. And He gives specific gifts to individuals in those churches to fulfill those purposes. But it all fits together in an amazing plan that only God can orchestrate.

The failure to hold the Orne River Bridge could have changed the course of history. If the Allieds had not taken Normandy, they may not have been in a position to liberate Europe and the concentration camps. Thankfully we will never know, because the men did hold the bridge and the invasion was a huge success. Though not without casualties, the men did indeed "hold until relieved" - mission accomplished.

Wherever God has placed you, He has a strategic plan in mind. Whether you see the big picture or not, trust that He does. Keep doing the last job He gave you to do - and ask for His grace to "hold until relieved".