Visualize this scenario. There’s a car ride going on,
containing one or two parents/adults and at least one child in the backseat.
The child’s view consists of the following: the back of the driver’s and passenger
side seat, perhaps, some toys, games or word puzzle books, strewn throughout.
Maybe, depending upon the vehicle, there’s even a Disney film being played on a
television screen, just above Mommy or Daddy’s head. We should be hearing the
voice of an animated character or the chirp of an irritating child’s song. But,
instead, what do we hear?
“Are we there yet?
Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”
Does this sound familiar?
If you have children or remember being one yourself, you’re probably
familiar with this nagging, repetitive question:
Are we there yet?
We want to get there already, wherever “there” is.
“Unto a land flowing
with milk and honey...”
Exodus 3:8; 33:3
It’s the Promised Land, filled with conscientious manners,
harmonious relationships, well-behaved children, realized dreams and no bad
hair days.
Yeah.
So, when we’re reminded of 2 Corinthians 3:18, we
rarely feel enthusiastic about the process…
“And we all, who with unveiled
faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his
image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit.”
In the pursuit of arriving “there,” you and I often bypass
one crucial place: patience land.
No, it’s not an amusement park.
“In your patience possess ye your
souls.”
Luke 21:19
We’re even less
enthusiastic about going there! But,
isn’t the word “patience” that journey we all experience?
God knows we need patience MORE than we need to be
“somewhere.”
“But if we hope for that we see not, then do
we with patience wait for it.”
Romans 8:25
But there is a reward for it:
“For ye have need of patience, that,
after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”
Hebrews 10:36
Patience: not a warm fuzzy, but a reliable thing,
nevertheless.
“And, behold, this day I am going the
way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls,
that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God
spoke concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath
failed thereof.”
Joshua 23:14
Doesn’t seem like it? Well, it probably has something to do
with our spiritual nearsightedness.
“For now we see through a glass,
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even
as also I am known.”
1 Corinthians 13:12
Just because we are not “there” yet, doesn’t mean we’re a
hopeless failure. And it certainly doesn’t mean God’s ambivalent or a myth.
He’s real and relevant, working in the middle of our blindness, obstacles and
circumstances. Scripture tells us about the reality of a season:
“To everything there
is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
It happens to everyone; there are, indeed, certain
experiences we need to go through as individuals. Whether it’s a patience or
character building exercise, our individual recovery process or simply laying
the groundwork for even more spectacular blessings, we need to get over our
egos and realize our finite beings, despite our desire to know everything,
simply would not be able to deal with it.
“I have yet many things to say unto
you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
John 16:12
Our ego says, “Are we there yet?” God responds, “Not yet.”
“He hath made everything beautiful in
his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find
out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11
We’re not there yet, but we are getting where we need to be
with God.
“Declaring the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”
Isaiah 46:10
Relax…and enjoy the ride.
Copyright © 2016 by Sheryle Cruse
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