Being a Waiter
“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” -Ecclesiastes 7:8
It’s 7:58 A.M. and my only road to work is the busiest road in the city. Cars are backed as far as the eye can see and all the lights are green. No one is moving. I can feel my blood start to boil and in an instant I get a hard left from the Holy Spirit. I start to remember Scripture in a flood of convictions. “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves,” (Phil. 2:3). For me, the words of Jesus scream the loudest.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. -Matthew 5:21-22
“How many murders have I committed only in the last few minutes?” My impatience has caused the sin of a near genocide to fall on my soul.
Believe me, I know how frustrating it is to be cut off in traffic, or be stuck behind a slow driver, but Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Mt. 5:44).
I know that being stuck in traffic isn’t your persecution, per se, but the weightier matter of Jesus’ command should trickle down to every part of our life. I use the traffic example because I believe inside of our vehicles is one place where we can become the most selfish, hating, prejudiced version of ourselves.
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church the first attribute that he describes true love with is “patient,” (13:4). The impatient mindset is never one of love, but one of selfishness. While I am angrily waiting in line in traffic, what is motivating my anger? Is it my love for the people in front of me? Is it my love for Christ? Or is it my love of myself and to have things done my way? I believe the answer is quite obvious.
How does this affect me spiritually? Aside from the sins arising in anger, we are commanded to wait on the Lord. The book of Psalms is filled with commands, promises, and warnings concerning waiting on God.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Psalms 27:14
“May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.” Psalms 25:21
“For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.” Psalms 37:9
I often wondered at a young age why we were commanded to “wait on the Lord.” It seemed a bit strange as the people that said it still went about their daily business as if they weren’t waiting for anything. There are some very important things to learn about waiting on God that often get lost in the repeating of simple phrases.
Why do we wait on God? I know he isn’t bound by time!
Remember the last time you went to a restaurant and sat down at your table. A young guy comes to your table and tells you he will be your waiter for the evening. He then waits for your request. This simple act of waiting puts the waiter in a humbling position and the customer in a position of power. This simple truth is what God desires us to understand. Peter tells us, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” (1 Pet. 5:6).
The waiting pose that we put ourselves in is also the position of the best spiritual “acoustics.” When we wait, we listen. When we listen, we hear. When we hear, we do. I pray that God keep us on the right track by giving us those patiently waiting ears to hear.
How do we wait on God? His time is 10 minutes to 10 millennia!
When you make that dreaded call to tech support or some customer service line, you know you will have to wait for what seems to be forever. I’m confident that we have all been on hold on these lines so long that we decide to hang up. We give up on waiting. So how do we wait on God? Never give up. Never say to God, “You have made me wait too long for this, now I’m going to find some other means.” If you recall 1 Peter 5:6 again, you will notice his wording—proper time. The proper time is ultimately determined by God, and for that I am very confident that the proper time is the best time for me and for God.
Mind Your Mouth
And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
James 3:6
“Sticks and stones,” we say, but we can all remember a time when words hurt more than any physical injury we could imagine. Words have a way of sinking deep into the core of a person, to the depths of their soul. Of course God intended it to be that way from the beginning. Genesis 1 gives an account of God speaking. Speaking life. Speaking creation. The power behind God’s spoken word created the entire universe. Hebrews even tells us that God continues to uphold the universe by the very word of his power (1:3). There is power in God’s words.
In the Gospel of John, chapter 1, we see that Jesus is literally referred to as the “Word” (λόγος). He is the manifestation of God’s power in flesh. Looking deeper into verse 3 we read that the spoken creation was a work of Christ Himself, as “nothing came into being that has come into being” apart from the Word of God.
What can we take from this? It is apparent that God’s word has power beyond anything that science has ever imagined, but do we have such power in our words? Our lips pronounce life and death, truth or lies, blessing or cursing. Might I remind you that God has chosen your mouth to be the gateway of his power in salvation entering the Earth. We are commanded to preach the Gospel (Mt. 28:19, Ro. 10:14) and to confess it ourselves (Ro. 10:9,10,13). This is an enormous gift of God. We are given a sliver of God’s greatness such that within the words of the Gospel themselves holds the power to salvation (Ro. 1:16). We should also remember that the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. To blaspheme is to speak of or address with irreverence. God values our speech, we should too. Jesus teaches that we will give an account for every careless word we speak, for by our words we are justified or condemned (Mt. 12:36-37). There is power in our words.
With this great power that God has endowed us with comes a great deal of responsibility. We as humans have utterly failed at the stewardship of our speech. James reminds us,
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
James 3:7-10
These verses, along with Paul’s description in Romans 3:13-14, clearly shows us what mankind has done with the power we have been given.
The adage goes, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Though this may be helpful for someone seeking a better position at their job, or perhaps a child on a playground wishing to stay out of trouble, but this simply will not suffice for Christians. Jesus reminds us, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,” (Mt. 12:34c). Simply damming the overflow of the heart does not prevent the sin. Yes, it may prevent the natural repercussions and may prevent further sin, but once the heart speaks the damage has been done. We must strive to change the roots of the tree to change the fruit, not the other way around.
To help fix this, we need prayer and practice. God will provide the practice every day. Every person that walks by, every person you encounter, every living being on Earth needs the power in the Gospel. The living water that should flow from your mouth (Jn. 7:38) is the nourishment that creation longs to have. Show Jesus to the world with the power of your lips and he will fill your cup till it is overflowing again.
Prayer is the easy part. God does all the work. Pray for a new fountain for words to flow out of. Pray for new roots to bring forth good fruit. We don’t simply pray that God remove the temptations to curse with our mouths, we pray that God remove the curse from our hearts completely and replace it with blessings for our brothers. Change the heart, the mouth will follow suit.