Learn From The Weight Of Waiting

Life can be hard.  Remember the last time you said, “No” and got all worried that you were going to disappoint them or that they would label you as “selfish”?  How about the time you needed some help but didn’t want to ask for any help because you were worried they would see you as a failure?  Maybe you needed to rethink that a little bit because asking for help isn’t a weakness but resourcefulness.  Do you agree that most people are happy to help when they’re asked and might even build relationships!  Yes, life can be hard!  How about the time you had to wait.  We don’t like to wait.  Isn’t that proven every time we push the gas pedal closer to the floor so we can get there a few seconds quicker!?!  How many time-saving devices have we invented such as motor-cycles, cars and airplanes but we complain because we had to wait at the gate and didn’t get to our destination quicker!  Dare I even dive into the technology advances we have in our life from telegraph, telephones to smart phones but people just aren’t getting our messages and we had to wait for their reply.  Waiting makes us miserable yet waiting is necessary in the world we live in.  Even after waiting for what we want and finally getting it, there is something else we want to make us happy right around the corner, but once again we have to wait for it.  We wait to start school and then we wait to graduate.  We wait to get a job and then we wait for a vacation.  We wait to get married and have a family and then we wait for everyone to grow up so we can be relieved of our family obligations.  We wait for some more money, a better home, and a better job that will make us happy, but then we are weighed down caring for all our blessings and start waiting again.  Today the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write down the reason for this strange condition in our lives and he also gives us the remedy.  May your faith be strengthened to    

Learn From The Weight Of Waiting

The Reason For The Wait

I think you already know the reason for the restless waiting that surrounds us.  You already know that you are living in a dissatisfied and unhappy world.  St. Paul used this graphic description,

“²² For we know that all of creation is groaning with birth pains right up to the present time.”

If you’re not satisfied with what you have, then you can’t wait to get something better.  All we have to do is ask a woman here who has given birth if they were satisfied while they were in labor, or did they eagerly wait for something else?  LOL!  Paul gave many examples of the unhappy condition of the world in which we live.

“sufferings at the present time,” “²⁰ For creation was subjected to futility,” “slavery to corruption,” “we ourselves…. groan inwardly.”

The reason for our unhappy, restless waiting is the dark picture Paul describes of God’s creation infected with sin.

Yes, I know you will find people that disagree with Paul.  They might even say things aren’t as bad as Paul says they are.  How many times have you heard someone say, “Just be patient, something better is bound to come along!”  But, has anyone found contentment and peace after achieving their goals?  Oh, perhaps for a little while.  But, you know it doesn’t last.  When sin infects waiting it ruins our satisfaction!

Example #1  Are people with lots of money happy?  According to Business Insider (businessinsider.com) the answer is yes, but not for the reasons you may be thinking.  They make Paul’s point.  They had “to suffer long hours of work, sacrifice their families, having little vacation time, and a huge burden of responsibility and stress.”  They quoted one rich man who said, “Today I have over a billion dollars, but what has it brought me?  Not happiness.”  He was experiencing the groaning St. Paul is talking about. 

“For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains”

1 Timothy 6:10

Example #2  Will a little more education bring you satisfaction?  To be sure we want to learn about God’s creation and be trained with skills to have a good job and provide for our families.  But, a worldly education without an education in God’s plan of salvation will result in nothing more than the ability to be “intelligently miserable.”  Just ask King Solomon!

“¹⁸ In fact, with much wisdom comes much frustration. The more knowledge, the more pain!”

Ecclesiastes 1:18

Example #3 Will better health bring you satisfaction?  I think you’re catching on!  Of course we all want to be healthy and to feel good.  But, also know that our health living in this world will have good days and bad days and that one of these days some horrible, evil event in this world will destroy our life here.  You get the picture.  God’s beautiful creation is ruined by sin and dissatisfaction will always fall under the shadow of waiting.  

“ ²² For we know that all of creation is groaning with birth pains right up to the present time.”  

This brings with it the unhappiness of life as we wait for life in heaven.  We Learn From the Weight of Waiting the Reason For The Wait.  Sin!

Paul gives us the summary.

“²⁰ For creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it.” 

When Adam and Eve went against God’s will, sin disrupted God’s smooth plans for his creation.  It was like a bomb exploding that started the chain reaction of sinful events that have continued down to our present time.  It is the reason for sorrow, pain, suffering and even waiting.  These are all the result of sin in our lives and in our world that Paul called, “slavery to corruption.” It is also important for us to remember that all the troubles we have in life are not punishment for what you have done, but for who you are.  Sinful people living in a sinful world experiencing the heart-breaking, difficult, and sometimes painful consequences.

If you do not operate a machine according to directions with proper oil and grease at the proper time, it will eventually fall apart.  The same is true for our lives.  God created and gave guidance by which the world is to operate.  However, sinful people have failed to follow his directions.  This is why you bear heavy crosses in your life.  Yes, even the waiting we do remind us how much we need a Savior. Learn From The Weight Of Waiting and then lift your eyes to Jesus,

The Remedy Of Your Weight

Of course you noticed right away that I have a play on words here.  Yes, we don’t like waiting because it weighs down on our patience.  But, what happens when we listen to the Psalmist,

“¹⁴ Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 27  

There it is.  Our lives are full of waiting because of the weight of sin.  If you buy a machine and it falls apart because you did not care for it properly, you cannot expect the store to replace it for you.  It is your loss. You must suffer the consequences.  This is a good picture for what we deserve from a just and holy God.  But, St. Paul writes about God’s miraculously gracious, merciful reaction to the weight of our sins! 

“in the hope ²¹ that even creation itself will be set free from slavery to corruption, in order to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.” 

How is this possible?  God’s Word tells us,

“¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. As it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”

Galatians 3:13

Would you like to hear what this weight of sin being taken off of us and given to Christ sounds like?  Listen!

“⁸ But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

Romans 5:8

Jesus Christ is the Remedy of Your Weight Of Sin!  Learn From The Weight of Waiting on Him!  Lean on Jesus.  Wait on Him.  Jesus is the Remedy.  Jesus removed the Weight of Your Sin to himself when he died on the cross for you!

Of all the things we wait for, there is nothing greater than this.  There is no offer more generous than this.  There is no greater solution to the sad waiting of the world that is more satisfying and complete!  Yes, we will have difficult days.  Yes, we will still have to wait.  Yes, there are crosses we carry living in this world that are hard to bear.  But take heart!  

“¹⁸ For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”

We acknowledge that our lives are difficult.  Paul did too!

“²² For we know that all of creation is groaning with birth pains right up to the present time. ²³ And not only creation, but also we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we eagerly await our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

The difference is that we have the “firstfruits of the Spirit” that is, the faith he has created in our hearts to see Christ.  In Christ we begin to see and feel what it means to have complete peace and joy forever.  It isn’t about us being made stronger to carry a heavier load, or wait longer.  It is all about Jesus Christ who carried the load of sin, death and hell for us, and graciously gives you release of sin’s curse, guilt and punishment.  Believe it!  Wait for it!

Life can be hard.  Sometimes we might have to say, “No!” or ask someone for help.  Yes, I hope every time you have to wait for something it doesn’t ruin your day, but reminds you to wait on the Lord. Acknowledge the truth that there are crosses we bear, like waiting, in this life because of sin.  Then be reminded that Jesus is the Remedy because he removed the Weight of sin and gave us the holiness we need for eternal life in heaven.  There you will receive the crown of glory and sing his praises because you Learned From The Weight of Waiting to Trust in Jesus.  Amen.