I am a runner. I hate exercising but boy, can I run.
I run when faced with difficult situations. I run when I'm uncomfortable. I run away from my feelings and emotions.
And it hurts to realize that I would rather run than find out what I'm made of because I am scared to see that I don't measure up to some standard or expectation.
So I'm learning how to stay put, how to plant roots even though I'm terrified because seasons change, disappointment will come, some expectations won't be fulfilled.
However, joy does come, the investment does pay off, I can enjoy the place I am rooted in but I have to wait.
I have to be patient although everything around and within me is telling me to leave, to get out, to run.
In 2 Kings 2, Elisha is sticking close to Elijah's heels.
Elijah can't shake off his apprentice. Three times, Elijah has given the younger man a chance to rest but Elisha is adamant about following his master.
Elisha isn't about to take a rest now, not when God was planning on taking his mentor away for good. So he stays with Elijah and refuses to leave.
Then Elijah turns to him and asks, "What can I do for you before I'm taken from you?"
And Elisha answers, "I want to do what you do."
And Elisha answers, "I want to do what you do."
Elijah replies, "Watch me and when I leave, you'll be able to do what I do."
And I think what Elijah just said is very important.
As a society, we are so caught up in doing and gaining experience that we forget how important it is to watch how the thing we want to do is actually being done by those who are doing it.
We don't want to watch because that means we have to learn, which means we have to be patient.
I shudder every time patience is brought up...
For me, waiting is a waste of time. I feel like I should be doing something productive, that I should help God out and hurry up the process.
But the thing is... God doesn't need my help and He doesn't need yours either. And He isn't trying to hurry up the process...
He simply wants us to wait and watch as He does a work within us to prepare us for His will.
It may seem like nothing is happening around you but you can trust that things are changing for your good and His glory within you.
There is no wasted time in His economy. He's fashioning you into the person He created you to be. Why wouldn't you want to take your time and learn from Him to be the best-you you can be?
He made you, why wouldn't you wait and watch Him in order to learn how to live your life?
Although, Elijah's ministry seemed to be slowing down and nothing was happening right up to the point that God plucked him from the earth, Elisha stayed expectant, knowing that the best is about to come. That's why Elisha could boldly ask for such a thing as a double portion in his life. He knew that he wasn't done learning and gleaning from Elijah yet.
And we should have more expectancy of God, who can do immeasurably more than what we ask or imagine.
He even said it Himself:
And I think what Elijah just said is very important.
As a society, we are so caught up in doing and gaining experience that we forget how important it is to watch how the thing we want to do is actually being done by those who are doing it.
We don't want to watch because that means we have to learn, which means we have to be patient.
I shudder every time patience is brought up...
For me, waiting is a waste of time. I feel like I should be doing something productive, that I should help God out and hurry up the process.
But the thing is... God doesn't need my help and He doesn't need yours either. And He isn't trying to hurry up the process...
He simply wants us to wait and watch as He does a work within us to prepare us for His will.
It may seem like nothing is happening around you but you can trust that things are changing for your good and His glory within you.
There is no wasted time in His economy. He's fashioning you into the person He created you to be. Why wouldn't you want to take your time and learn from Him to be the best-you you can be?
He made you, why wouldn't you wait and watch Him in order to learn how to live your life?
Although, Elijah's ministry seemed to be slowing down and nothing was happening right up to the point that God plucked him from the earth, Elisha stayed expectant, knowing that the best is about to come. That's why Elisha could boldly ask for such a thing as a double portion in his life. He knew that he wasn't done learning and gleaning from Elijah yet.
And we should have more expectancy of God, who can do immeasurably more than what we ask or imagine.
He even said it Himself:
Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.
But are you spending time with God? Are you rooted in His word?
You can't expect more when you aren't fixed on what God promises to do and is doing in your life.
If your perspective isn't on God then it's easy to get restless as you focus on what isn't happening in your life.
If your perspective isn't on God then it's easy to get scared and worried as you focus on what is happening in other people's lives.
It's easy to run, to abandon ship, to give up if you don't look to God.
We have to stop leaving prematurely.
We have to stop quitting.
We need to stay and wait and watch.
Cause only then will we get to do something more than Christ through His strength and grace.
Only then will we see the payoff and the fruit.
Even as the seasons blend into each other, as nothing seems to be happening, as the worry and doubt start to creep in and you want to run...
Stay, wait and watch instead.
Or you'll miss out on the big reveal of what God was doing for you backstage.
