What are you waiting for?

Today is Friday, November 16. One week from today marks a calendar block filled in on a yearly basis for many American shoppers. Black Friday. Once the turkey is carved and the pie is sliced, countless shoppers make their way to their favorite superstore (or the like) and get in line to wait.

 

I have to admit, I usually take part in this somewhat ridiculous tradition. Maybe it’s the crisp air, maybe it’s the anticipation, but there’s some kind of thrill to be found in standing in line with hundreds of people waiting outside a store at midnight to fight over items that probably were never on our shopping lists to begin with to save probably less than 5 dollars.

My mom is a great sport as I usually bring her along with me to fight the black Friday crowds. A couple of years ago, ashamedly, we ended up at Walmart at midnight in a line an hour long to buy a box of Tupperware we picked up on impulse. We knew we didn’t need it but somehow felt we needed to make a purchase to justify standing in a human stampede in the middle of the night. Regardless, we held our box, got in line, and we waited.

I have met very few people that love to wait in a line. However, (as someone who loves to shop) I have adopted the perspective that lines are an inevitable part of the shopping experience.  As with anything in life, you have 2 choices: to relish the moment and enjoy it for what it is or complain and wallow until the situation you are in passes. I relish time waiting in line. I always joke with my mom that it is “quality time” we have been blessed with to spend together.

What are you waiting for? Whether you are standing in a line at Best Buy on Black Friday or pressing on toward the next chapter of your life, our lives are full of  “lines to wait in”.

I have been retrospective lately. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s the change of the seasons or maybe its just my tendency in general.  As a result, I have spent many evenings reading back through old journals and flipping through old picture albums.

By chance last night, I opened to the back of the front cover of a journal I started using right after graduation from college. There, I had written a verse. It said:

“Live life then with a due sense of responsibility, not as those who don’t know the meaning and purpose of life, but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the evils of these days. Don’t be vague but grasp firmly to what you know to be the will of the Lord.” –Ephesians 5:15-17.

What are you waiting for? While we are waiting for our lives to start, we are missing out on this very moment we have been given to live, a breath to take in, and an opportunity to make a difference.

It’s so easy to fool ourselves into thinking life will be so much easier once we reach that moment we have been waiting for. God’s Will will suddenly become clear and THEN we will be able to live out the purpose He has called us to.

However, at the stage we are at in our lives right now (whatever that may be), we decide that God’s will is hard to decipher, we decide that we know what is best for our lives so that is obviously what God is going to provide us with, we adopt the “grass is greener on the other side” philosophy, and we wait for God to turn the grass he has given us to stand on to the shade of green we are longing for.

What kind of a life are we setting ourselves up for? Probably exactly the kind of life the enemy would love for us to live. If we are sitting and waiting, we aren’t acting, doing, and loving. God has called us to live life. Not only that, we are called to make the best use of our time and to not live like those who don’t know the meaning and purpose of life.

So often, I act like I don’t know the purpose. I am waiting for it to become clear and then I will start living. I forget that God has already given me purpose. He has given us all purpose as his followers. We are called to love others and share God’s love and message with those around us.

How simple is that? So simple that we overlook it. We trick ourselves into thinking that we need a high paying job, a white picket fence, a perfect relationship, and no problems before we can even think about trying to live out the purpose God has for us.

When Paul wrote those words, he was sitting in prison in chains. I don’t know about you, but my “life tragedies” seem like a walk in the park compared to this. Paul could have sat in chains, wallowed in self-pity, and waited to be set free so he could continue on with his God given calling. I wouldn’t blame him. Would you? But no, he didn’t wait. He continued to live. He wrote letters encouraging his friends in the places he was ministering to. He lived his life.

Sure there are things to look forward to in life, and I honestly believe those things can be blessings from the Lord. However, there is a big difference between looking forward to something and halting your life and waiting for it.

What are you waiting for? Live your life. Use all of that “quality time” God has given you. Don’t wait. Be Prayerful. Make the most of every opportunity.

Live. Love. Share. Embrace this life. Embrace this moment. You won’t get it back. Relish the moments in line.

And if you can’t stand the wait in the line next Friday, just wait a few days. Cyber Monday will be just around the corner.