Why We Need To Wait With Action

(photo courtesy: googleimages)

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”-Matthew 25:14-18 (NIV)

At this very moment my wife and I are waiting for our baby girl to enter this world. We have no clue when this is going to happen, but we are waiting. We were told it could have been 24-48hrs (that was 106hrs ago), but we were told in the same breath: “Babies will come when they are ready.”

My first thought, “Then why give us a time period?!” My second thought, what do we do in the meantime?”

I’ll tell you what I’ve been doing in the meantime, waiting with excitement. I have been running through what’s been packed and making sure I remember the route to the hospital. I have been making sure every change of facial expression on my wife is a contraction and isn’t something she ate coming back to haunt her. I am making sure I don’t stress her out with all my thoughts and try my best to do whatever she needs to make this part of the process the easiest.

She has been making sure the laundry is done. She has been making sure she is tune with her body. She has been dealing with painful contractions and making sure she is resting in order to be ready for our daughter’s exit plan. My wife is a champ and is keeping things going, even when she is wiped out.

Not to mention, she and I both have to make sure our 2 year old is doing alright too!

We are waiting, but making sure things keep going in the process.

What if we didn’t prepare with such tenacity?

What if when we showed up to the hospital and had the baby, but we didn’t have the car seat? Or clothes? Or a camera? We wouldn’t be bringing a baby home and when she grew up she would hate us for not having any memories of her birth.

Sometimes, I think this is how we handle our relationship and understanding of Jesus’ return.

We just celebrated Jesus’ resurrection. He was dead, but rose again and came back to His disciples. When He came back, He found some hiding and some who returned back to their old line of work. They forgot His promises and His parable about the master and his workers that I shared above. Some of the servants did a lot with the “talents”, but one guy chose to bury it and do just enough to protect his “talent” for the master. It doesn’t go so well for him later, read it.

You see, we have all heard about Christ’s resurrection. We have all heard of His mention of returning again later. In our waiting, we have become complacent. We do the basics, but we aren’t doing the work He asked us to do.

We might go to church. We might serve every quarter in some special project. We might give a little to someone in need, when we choose to do so. But, is this enough?

Are we waiting with appropriate action?

My wife and I are waiting for this baby, but making sure everything is taken care of, as much as possible. We are trying to get work responsibilities in line, our bills are paid, our 2 year old is cared for, our bags are packed, the camera battery is charged, and my car is semi-clean.

Why are we so prepared? The answer: Because we are so excited for the gift that is coming! We know we have to be prepared because we want this baby girl to come into a comfortable place, a loving home, and two loving parents that have done all they could do to prepare a healthy environment for her.

Am I waiting with this kind of excitement for Christ? Am I doing everything I can to do my part to prepare this world for His second coming? Do I love people with the same love He showed me? Am I serving people the way Christ served me? Do I love mercy, do justly, and walk humbly? Am I leaving a mark on this world that ultimately brings glory to Christ?

I hope. I hope I can be as prepared for Christ as I am for my baby. I hope it is for the same reason: pure excitement knowing that I have a wonderful gift coming to me in the end.

The waiting is worth all the activity I put into it!

QUESTION: What keeps you from waiting with action?