To Live is Christ — waiting without procrastinating

Each week brings new surprises. My intention Monday was to get through my to-do list. It keeps growing and had become burdensome. However, the list is almost the same today as five days ago.

Part of it is my own fault. I am distracted by an email from a realtor whose list I’ve been on since we looked at vacation properties three years ago. Instead of lopping an item off my list, I waste precious minutes looking at his latest listings.

Part of it I can blame on Microsoft. Those endless Vista updates put computer work on hold until the downloads are installed. Of course I could jump up and put effort into some non-computer item, but I don’t.

The bigger problem is those unexpected interruptions. The hot water tank starts leaking so a plumber comes to give an estimate. A project I think is finished needs more revisions. A new package of crackers is stale upon opening and must be returned. Then there are those inevitable telemarketers who get a polite, “Will you please remove our number from your list” yet I’m sure they simply sell it to another of their ilk to steal more of my time.

This morning God challenges me to take another look at the unexpected interruptions of life. Yesterday, He showed me that the following verse is not about heaven, but the unseen mysteries of God’s plan for me, mysteries that I will not and cannot see — unless He reveals them. 

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Because God is sovereign, then all that comes my way is by His design or at least by His permission. When the phone rings, God is ultimately behind the call. When the neighbors needs help, God put me on their mind. When the email piles up, at the very least, God is testing my resolve. Will I be prompt and courteous? Will I focus only on what is important? Will I maximize computer down time by doing something else that needs to be done?

That word “waiting” brings to mind one of God’s promises. In the pressure of several deadlines and twice as many interruptions, I’ve felt my blood pressure go up and my energy levels go down. For this, God says to me . . . 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28–31)

God will get me through, yet His ways are not my ways. I assume that if I work harder and stay focused, then the job will get done. Others tell me to take naps to avoid being overtired, or to dump the list and forget the deadlines. Yet God promises me all the resources I need — if I wait on Him. He may govern the unexpected interruptions, but He also governs insight, imagination, creative ideas, and anything else I might need to deal with every responsibility in my life.

I can see a big picture. God controls what comes at me and wants me to bring it all back to Him, in faith, trusting Him for all necessary resources. When I do that, He renews me. When I don’t, I forget that He is in charge and I get stressed and even annoyed at trivia, try to handle everything by myself, and wind up worn out and ready to throw in the towel.

My eyes cannot see what is coming. My mind cannot make sense of “waiting” to gain strength. These realities are part of the mystery of faith. God reveals what He has prepared for me — but I need to be obedient, do what He says, and trust Him. In His realm, waiting does not slow His people down, nor is it another interruption.