Hi there,
So basically I just wanted to start with a truth, and then see where it took us: "believing in God, there is more time to wait - than waiting can end".
What does this mean? It means that prophecy will always lead to more prophecy; that is a hallmark of a prophet: he does not simply want to foreshadow the things of God, but wants to be One with the One for whom all prophecies are foreshadowed (in principle). If the prophet reaches the end of his time with God, he is not a true prophet - that is why you see things like Enoch walking with God, and Elijah being taken up and Jesus changing and Jesus rising up to the clouds, in the Bible.
But what about waiting ending? Surely if you wait long enough, you have waited long enough? This is innocent enough, until you start to question why is someone desiring to have waited enough. Think about it, what did Jesus say the impatient servant started to do, to the other servants, because he thought his Master was delaying His coming? He beat his fellow servants? Right? That is the principle here; it is not for an opportunity to serve his fellow servants that the impatient servant sets his sights on when specifically the Master will return; he is saying, "if I can figure out when the Master will return, I can have my ease until then". So it is, that the servant is punished, not for not waiting for a specific time, but for not waiting (in principle).
There is a lack of culture in the Church about the nature of waiting, there is very little welcome to Buddhists who practice the waiting of God, for example; on the other hand, many things are commendable in Church, that they do in the Spirit of waiting, such as gathering, gathering to pray, returning to the Lord's passover and seeking out those not able to gather for whatever reason. The nature of the argument that the Church should wait is little mentioned in the Bible it basically says "he encouraged them to come aside a little while and wait"; elsewhere it says "by patience possess your souls". These things are good for the Church, but imagine how good it could be, if there was regular practice of waiting, especially of the kind with those whose life circumstances make it hard to impossible to wait as you might imagine, anyone could.
The real power of the notion that we are to wait, is definitely in the truth that waiting in God, is more waiting than can end (that waiting). That statement is saying "You will be waiting, in Heaven"; not an imperfect waiting, but a perfect waiting - one that encompasses everything that comes to an end (as Jesus said "the things concerning Me have an end" - paraphrase). This is what the Bible is saying when it says "this is the patience of the saints" (Revelation), it is saying the power of this waiting, is over all the power of the enemy - for the enemy desires all waiting to come to an end. We needn't speculate why the enemy does not wish to wait, it suffices to wait until his waiting for the end has indeed become the end of his waiting.
Be encouraged, no one who comes to Christ has not, at some point, waited. What remains is for us to carry that waiting through... to the end, and beyond.
So basically I just wanted to start with a truth, and then see where it took us: "believing in God, there is more time to wait - than waiting can end".
What does this mean? It means that prophecy will always lead to more prophecy; that is a hallmark of a prophet: he does not simply want to foreshadow the things of God, but wants to be One with the One for whom all prophecies are foreshadowed (in principle). If the prophet reaches the end of his time with God, he is not a true prophet - that is why you see things like Enoch walking with God, and Elijah being taken up and Jesus changing and Jesus rising up to the clouds, in the Bible.
But what about waiting ending? Surely if you wait long enough, you have waited long enough? This is innocent enough, until you start to question why is someone desiring to have waited enough. Think about it, what did Jesus say the impatient servant started to do, to the other servants, because he thought his Master was delaying His coming? He beat his fellow servants? Right? That is the principle here; it is not for an opportunity to serve his fellow servants that the impatient servant sets his sights on when specifically the Master will return; he is saying, "if I can figure out when the Master will return, I can have my ease until then". So it is, that the servant is punished, not for not waiting for a specific time, but for not waiting (in principle).
There is a lack of culture in the Church about the nature of waiting, there is very little welcome to Buddhists who practice the waiting of God, for example; on the other hand, many things are commendable in Church, that they do in the Spirit of waiting, such as gathering, gathering to pray, returning to the Lord's passover and seeking out those not able to gather for whatever reason. The nature of the argument that the Church should wait is little mentioned in the Bible it basically says "he encouraged them to come aside a little while and wait"; elsewhere it says "by patience possess your souls". These things are good for the Church, but imagine how good it could be, if there was regular practice of waiting, especially of the kind with those whose life circumstances make it hard to impossible to wait as you might imagine, anyone could.
The real power of the notion that we are to wait, is definitely in the truth that waiting in God, is more waiting than can end (that waiting). That statement is saying "You will be waiting, in Heaven"; not an imperfect waiting, but a perfect waiting - one that encompasses everything that comes to an end (as Jesus said "the things concerning Me have an end" - paraphrase). This is what the Bible is saying when it says "this is the patience of the saints" (Revelation), it is saying the power of this waiting, is over all the power of the enemy - for the enemy desires all waiting to come to an end. We needn't speculate why the enemy does not wish to wait, it suffices to wait until his waiting for the end has indeed become the end of his waiting.
Be encouraged, no one who comes to Christ has not, at some point, waited. What remains is for us to carry that waiting through... to the end, and beyond.
