Waiting instead of working

Calgary has been very good for me. It has been the first place we have been where we have no idea what we are doing. We got here with nothing but us. No plans and no contacts except for a random connection to stay at a random church, right in the heart of downtown. We have been plopped, by God, in an position where we could either wait to hear what He has for us or we could work our tails off trying to figure things out ourselves.

Our question when we got here was, 'Why are we here God? Show us where you want us.'

My first reaction is to try and figure out things, or ask everyone we see what we can do to help. You know, make myself feel better by doing something, even if it is futile and meaningless in the eyes of God. I like to busy myself when I don't know my purpose.

But here in Calgary I felt the Lord put the pressure on me to lay off and wait for Him to work. That is really hard to do. The enemy asked me over and over, "What are you doing anyways? You should be doing something." And for the first time, I could say, "I'm waiting for God. That is what I am doing!"

The words in 1 Cor 3:11-15 jumped alive to me this week.

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

I can't imagine having to escape the flames of my work. What a loss! To come to the Day and see that everything I had done was completely worthless! Why must we hurry up and do something?

My foundation is Jesus Christ. For me to run around and try to build on this without Him is sillyness. Even if I put His name on it and say that I'm looking for ways to "increase the kingdom", it will be burnt up. I need to wait. And as I practice this, I can feel my ears getting keener to His voice. I can feel my heart joining with His and I can feel His peace as I stand in confidence in my position.

I am enjoying my relationship with Him again. I was in tears the other day because I felt far away from Him. Waiting has brought intimacy back between my Father and I. And intimacy with God is the way to bring the kingdom near.