{29} What'd I Do to Deserve This Wait?

A young girl sat in sat across from me at a coffee shop and told me her mom is dying.  They can't do anything more for her.  They're just waiting, and not even for anything good.  Just waiting for her death.  And I think of my own mom.  She helped me plan my wedding, witnessed Caroline's birth, and picked us up from the airport when adopting Amelia.

And without even knowing this girl, I know it's not fair that I have my mom and she soon won't have hers.

*****

I think a lot of us shake our heads at the waits and tragedies we face. "This doesn't make sense," we say. "I tried so hard. I stayed in line. Why me?"

And we are overlooking two critical pieces of information:

• 1.)  We are not good.  I don't mean to get gross, but the Bible compares a human's most righteous acts to blood-stained menstrual rags.  We are undeserving, wretched, sinful, and more rebellious in our hearts than we dare believe.  And we deserve nothing but hell.  

(Okay, okay, I didn't mean to go all Bible-beater scary on you there. But it's true, and it's cruel if I never tell you that, because we can never be thankful for Christ's gifts without understanding how in debt we were.)

• 2.)  God, in His great love, made us His children and heirs of all that is His.  What I'm saying is quite simple, yet quite profound.  Even though we stink and aren't worthy... God did EVERYTHING, gave everything, to make us close to Him.  We are His beloved children.

I know it sounds like church-talk.  It's great for Sunday mornings, you may say, but how does that help me in this hell-on-earth I'm living through?  

I think of the Beatitudes... that odd, upside-down sermon Jesus gave, where He didn't so much explain the pain of the world, but promised that everything bad would be turned on its head.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

    for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

    for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

    for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

    for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

    for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:3-12

And I think of Brooke Frazer's song "Flags", where she says: "I don't know why the innocents fall/while the monsters still stand/I don't know why the little ones thirst/but I know the last shall be first."

This world is upside down, and Jesus promises to come turn it right.
I'm confused by the why's of heartache just like you are.
But I know this:
For every loss Christians face on this planet, we can look forward to the great gain in the next life. (And even in this life!)
After all, we will inherit all our Father has.
For every moment of mourning, we will be comforted.
For every tear, there will be laughter.

And the real question is, why in the world would Jesus promise such good to us?

Thank You, God!  Even in the suffering, thank You.

*****************************************

Please consider looking through the comments in this series 

and praying for our sisters who wait.

*****************************************

Waiting? Hurting? 

Have God-glorifying ideas for this series?

Comment or email me.

rachelgoode1@gmail.com

We'd love to pray for you all month.

*****************************************

Don't want to miss any of this series?
Click here to have each new post delivered to your inbox.
Click here to subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today was Day 29 of
31 Days of Waiting:

Day 1     Day 2     Day 3     Day 4     Day 5     Day 6     Day 7     Day 8     Day 9     Day 10     Day 11     Day 12     Day 13     Day 14     Day 15     Day 16     Day 17     Day 18     Day 19     Day 20     Day 21     Day 22     Day 23     Day 24     Day 25     Day 26     Day 27     Day 28     Day 29     Day 30     Day 31