Lately, I have been thinking some. This came while driving to Bible class Wednesday night of last week and running late...
I wonder about the many years after Jesus' death where John waited in hopeful expectation of the return of the Messiah. As I wait on the Lord to be pregnant, I wonder at the similarity of the hope for a child and the Early Christian's hope of seeing Christ return. As I watch friends and family in the pregnancy process and see the excitement in the thoughts “maybe today I will see my baby’s real face and not just a grainy picture.”
Was it daily that they awoke thinking "I just know today is the day?" Did they attribute meaning to the smallest of events? "I think I heard something...Christ, was that you?" Just as I try not to lose hope, I wonder at how they kept from giving up and didn't quit trusting in the promises He made. I wonder how they carried on with the daily tasks when you know they just wanted to sit around praising and waiting. It totally makes sense to me that there are groups that did just that.
It is not that we have exact promises for what we, individually, hope for. However, there is a promise that He will come back. The Kingdom is here and WILL come in fullness later...sometime. May we be about hopeful anticipation, not just waiting, this week..."it's Friday but Sunday is coming!”
Your blog today reminds me of what we talked to our youth group about on Wednesday. Our topic was about prayer, and the question presented was, "Does God always answer our prayers?" Some said yes, many said no. We explained that from our viewpoint, God always answers our prayers with either yes, no, or wait. And the waiting is the hardest part to do. We emphasized in that study that it is usually what we do through the act of prayer is far more awesome than than the answer we receive. It is hard to wait, but I love your point of waiting with hopeful expectation. That is wonderful and I know that God is blessing you and will give you the desires of your heart. Love you!
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