I just finished hanging out with one of the youth from my church. Based on our conversation and what I have seen over the past year or so, it has become clear that many of the youth from 180 (our youth group) are waiting for something. The quick and easy answer is that they are waiting for a youth pastor. [Hi Dave, please get here quickly. :)] You see we have been without a youth pastor for more than a year, maybe two. I have lost count. But then I think back to when Pastor Rodger was here and notice that many of them seemed to struggle from the same problems then. Sure, the actual youth group meetings might have been more consistent. But many of the youth seemed to be waiting on something, and I think it is more than just a youth pastor.
Are the youth waiting for many of the adults to get a clue? Are they waiting for cutting edge, awe inspiring worship music every week? Are they waiting for Christianity 2.0, which is supposed to be much easier than old school Jesus? Are they waiting for true worship to come back in style? Are they waiting for a message in the sky or some feeling that will make it all ok? Are they waiting for something that won't be realized until they truly wait on God?
Jake Mason, one of the older 180 youth, recently wrote the following on his blog. He wrote, "So wedding after school, sat and contemplated many a thing....life and how it is now and how it will be in the future....i didnt dance....i didnt really interact with many of the people....a little i suppose....im not sure what to do though....things just seem like they are floating everywhere and i just cant seem to grasp what is there right in front of me....do i make my own future or is it already decided....i know there's a path that i need to follow and im waiting for something to help me discover this path....but im not sure how long i can wait....just not sure....i hope that you are though....cuz this is just no good....really...."
In a paragraph with a lot of .... in it, Jake captured how many Christian youth feel. It's the journey of self discovery. It's my story just as much as that of the next guy.
As I dig deep to see what God is doing in this conversation, it suddenly struck me that there is BIG difference between waiting on God and waiting for God. One is busy doing nothing although it may seem very active. The other seems inactive, but accomplishes much. One leads to life. The other drives us deeper into the pit of despair. Waiting for God is what people do when they simply follow the path of least resistance and do what seems best to fulfill the emptiness of the moment. Even though must people won't admit it, we tend to take life as it comes until God shows up in a demonstrable way to intervene. Seldom does God show up with such force because He wants people to freely love Him. He wants people to seek Him moment by moment not just when we come to a fork in the road. God desires us to grow in grace by faith - something which won't happen if He gives us grand signs or detailed plans to follow. Faith comes by believing in what we do not see, believing in what we hope for.
Waiting for God is what we do when we want someone to give us the answer. Waiting on God is what we do when we are willing to discover the answer ourselves as we seek the face of God. In the process, we discover that what we really desire is transformation not information. This comes only in the slow, deliberate process of waiting on God.
As children of God, we are called to be people of faith. Certainty comes as we step out in faith not as we wait for God to remove our doubt. Does this mean then that we are just supposed to jump out and do the first thing that seems comes along? How do we know if something is really from God or not?
You won't like the answer. I don't either. Although I do desire to get close to God and feel the quickening of His Spirit as I seek Him, I struggle to do what is necessary to find the answer that I so desperately want to know. This is where the real hard work comes in. We have to wait on God, which is surrender in silence - an empting of my agenda, timetable and preconceived ideas. Waiting on God requires us to set aside distractions. We have to even lay down our own desires to know the answer in order to hear what God wants to say. It starts by simply reading the Word, looking for God truths all around us and spending time in silent prayer. Waiting on God is an attitude of the heart as we truly surrender the right to run our lives. Waiting on God can be a scary thing because we don't know what He will ask of us. And as we seek God in silence, we discover that we have been hiding behind the noise of life all along. We have to deal with things that are not easy to conquer. We have to face fear, doubts and worries that sometimes we feel are best left undisturbed.
Even as someone walks in God's perfect will, I believe that we will always feel a sense of uneasiness in this life. I don't believe that we are ever supposed to feel 100% at home here. Not yet. One day, all things will be set right. Sin and death will be forever banished to the abyss. God will wipe away every tear. We will remember the past no more. God will restore the world as it was always meant to be. But today, all of creation groans under the weight of sin and the curse of death. While we can break free from the bondage and curse of sin by the power of God, we can't help but be touched by sin's harmful effects. Our hearts break for friends who are still caught in the curse. We see injustice, poverty, death, sickness and hopelessness in the world. Debt, fear and disillusionment keep billions asking, 'Is this it? Where can I find the life that I feel as if I am meant to live? How does one become great?'
Once again the real answer is hard to accept. We must wait on God and earnestly seek Him in prayer. We must silently listen for God to speak. Then we should act as He calls us to do in order to set rights the things that are wrong with the world, radiate the glory of God and grow in the knowledge of God. It is not anything that man does that makes him great, it is what man allows God to do in him and through him that makes one great.
True waiting starts with listening. Are you ready to hear what the Spirit wants to say today?
