Sunday Reflections

This Sunday, I went back to Redeemer in Knoxville. The sermon was taught by a Carson-Newman grad who is a pastor/music leader at Redeemer. The lesson was about waiting. His main points were 1) Expect to wait 2) Be Prepared to wait 3) Know what we're waiting for.

Recently coming out of a period of waiting in my life, this sermon caused me to be very reflective over the past few months/weeks. I'm not sure that all this change has sunk in my head yet. It's all been so fast and so much all at one time. It's all good, for sure, but it's just a lot. I've been waiting for so long for something to happen. I'm still reflecting of this lesson but these are my initial thoughts.

There were two things that Matt said today really made me think. The first was that God has something for us in the waiting periods of our lives. I'm still struggling with this. I feel like I might never know what the waiting period of the last 8 months was for. Maybe it was to change me. To allow God to take HIS time and mold me and teach me about His timing. I do feel like some things about me have changed. I'm a lot less of a planner, for one thing...this could be good and bad. I have a lot more empathy for others. And part of me just feels different. Different in a good way. It's hard to describe. This waiting period was definitely also a learning period.

The second thing Matt said that stuck out to me was "how you wait depends on what you are waiting on". This is so true. When we wait in line or waiting at a restaurant, we're impatient becuase we're hungry. When we're in line at the grocery store, we're impatient because there's 1234098 registers and only one cashier (Thank you Wal-mart and Target). What about waiting on Jesus to come back? Do we, as Christians, really live our lives like we're waiting on the Savior of the World to return? Also, if we're living our lives in the waiting...are we really living our lives? So much of life can pass by without even realizing what has happened. Sharon, a new friend, commented that she felt like so much joy is lost in waiting. Are we letting life pass us by because we're waiting on that one certain thing to happen? So often, we make excuses, saying "if this one thing will just happen, then I'll __________..." You fill in the blank.

What are you waiting on?

How much of human life is lost in waiting? - Ralph Waldo Emerson