Wrapped Up In The Waiting

When I look back on when I was little, I just think about all the things I used to wait for. I couldn't wait to figure how to manage my curly hair that barely anyone in my class had. I couldn’t wait until my body matured and I could look like the people I saw on TV. In fact, I remember standing in my room as a little girl looking in the mirror and just being so discouraged, so ready to be at the point in my life where I had a figure, where I didn’t feel or look so awkward. When I was really little I remember waiting for braces. I thought they were cool. In fact, I wanted to get red, white, and blue ones. Then once I got braces, I waited and waited and waited to get them off. 

When I was in high school I was waiting for different seasons in my sports career. When I could finally shine as the MVP of our team. Before I knew it, senior year rolled around, and I was waiting for graduation. 

I look back at college, and I think “Man, I was waiting then too!” Waiting for certain classes to be over, waiting for exams to be done and finals over with, waiting for some clarity on what I wanted to do with my life, waiting for Tyler and I to figure out where we were headed.

Instead of being in the moment, I got wrapped up in the waiting. 

But after so much waiting, you realize that you could go your whole life doing it. You could wait until you get engaged. And then wait until you get married. And then wait until you buy a house. And wait until you have kids. And wait until they get old enough to talk. And wait until they get old enough to walk. And then wait until they walk out the door.

It’s a never-ending cycle that can have us spinning our wheels, waiting and waiting throughout our entire lives.

Paul writes this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

“24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Let’s break it down now. 

Verse 24 says this: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” Paul in this verse is not telling us to just wait for that moment where we can beat everybody else and make sure we’re at the top of the podium. Instead he’s trying to bring to our attention that there are winners and there are losers at the end of this life. Winners will spend eternity in heaven. Losers will spend eternity in hell.

Now verse 25 says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” We can get ourselves in such a cycle of waiting that we forget that the crowns we’re constantly waiting for are not the things that will fully satisfy us. Paul tells us it’s going to be hard. But we can either fight with all our might to try and wait for that one thing in our lives that we think will satisfy or fulfill us, or we can realize that there is only one person who can satisfy us during any point in our lives and that He is the only one worth fighting for.

Then verse 26 tells us, “Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.” God has a purpose for your life, but you can miss it if you’re constantly waiting for the next season. If you’re constantly wondering when you’ll “figure out what you want to do with your life.” You are not defined by a job title. Or a relationship status. You have a purpose, and that purpose lies in today. It starts with today. Don’t go through life just running aimlessly, swinging like a boxer beating the air, just waiting for that “one thing”. Instead understand that your purpose lies in the hands of the One who created you, and He will reveal it to you if you stop waiting for it and start living into it.

Then in 27 it says, “No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” Paul is telling us here that it’s going to be hard!! But we have to keep the main thing the main thing and use every bit of muscle exertion we have to cross that finish line well, because that finish line may come tomorrow for us. And that means we need to fully live out this present moment that we’re in right now with all our might.

We don’t know what tomorrow holds. So why would we spend our whole lives waiting for worldly things? Why wouldn’t we do everything we can to live out the mission and purpose God has for us today?

I’m not saying it’s bad to be excited about your future. But I am saying that it’s bad if you constantly feel discontentment because you’re waiting for some worldly crown to satisfy you. You may feel so stuck in waiting for a certain situation in your life to be done. For the cancer to go away, for the pain of a loved one to be gone, to be done with exams and class forever. Or maybe you can’t wait for certain situations of your life to begin. To get out into the real world, to make money, to find the love of your life, to get married, to get a house, etc.

You may be so fixated on these things that you’re forgetting to live out where God has you in this present moment. There is purpose in this season. He is moving in this moment. And He doesn’t want you to live your life waiting. That’s what the enemy wants.

I want you to imagine a long, long rope. One that goes on for miles. Now imagine that this rope is a timeline. A timeline of your existence. 

On the end of the rope there is a little tiny colored part that’s only about 3 inches long or so. This would represent your time on earth. You’ve only got a few short years here on earth, and then you’ve got all of eternity somewhere else.

But what blows me away is that some of us - all we think about is that little tiny part. We’re consumed with it. We’re constantly consumed with this cycle of waiting in one spot to get to the next spot. Trying to change who we are in one spot so we gain a worldly crown in another. 

But what about the rest of the rope??? What about all of it??? What I do during this little part determines how I’m going to exist for millions and millions and millions of years forever. 

So why would I spend this little part waiting and waiting for this to be over and for this to begin and for this to maybe happen? Why would I try to waste my time trying to win worldly crowns from the people in this world who may not even make it past those couple inches?

Paul tells us that he’s going to live his life for this mission… for this moment in his life when he crosses that finish line. He tells us that he’s not going to get all caught up in the stuff and the noise and the waiting, looking around constantly, wondering what will happen next. 

He says no, I’m going to be like a runner, running towards the finish line, ready for that moment when I face God. Because it could happen tomorrow. We get one chance at this life on earth, and it can end at any second for any of us. We get one chance at this, and then it goes into eternity. 

I’m not going to be fooled. Are you?

It’s tempting. It’s hard because everyone lives that way. Everyone lives for this small part. For the waiting of worldly crowns. But I’m going to forget what’s behind me, what’s beside me, all the things I’m waiting for. My eyes are fixed on the finish line.

Are yours?

Your last day may be tomorrow. Do you know Jesus? Do you love Jesus? Jesus didn’t wait. He knew His purpose in each and every single minute of every single day. In the people he met. In the moments with those hurting. 

Jesus knew what He was here to do, but He didn’t just wait for that moment in time. Of dying on the cross for you and me. He knew that He had purpose all along the way. And it’s because of Him that we get to spend all of this - all of the rope - with Him! In Heaven!

So do you have a relationship with Him? I hope it’s yes. 

Don’t get wrapped in the waiting. Get wrapped up in the arms of Jesus, and start living.