WWJD

                                                                          
                                                              What Would Jesus Do?

No, I didn't by myself a new bracelet with these letters or words on it, but it has been on my mind lately. (the words, not the bracelet)  In recent years this phrase has become quite cliche, but in reality it's a question we really should ask ourselves when it comes to most every topic in life. The event that got my mind puzzling these words is watching my facebook news feed blow up in recent days with folks choosing sides on several different debates, one being the Chik fil A issue.  I think the most cleaver post was this one:

Oh, the battled raged for days about this subject and I added my two cents once or twice, but avoided participating in any heated arguments.  As the above picture states so plainly, why is the world so surprised by the answer Mr. Cathy gave regarding this subject? And what would Jesus answer have been to the question that got the restaurant owner mired in controversy?  Also, why is it being debated in the first place? I think it's because we've come right down to the nitty gritty of how can a Christian love people and lead them to Christ, when we know that they are not going to agree with what the Bible clearly says about these and other matters.  I am not a Bible scholar but I have studied enough to know that when I have a dilemma going on around me I can usually find a useful answer right there between the pages of Genesis and Revelation.  But "the world" isn't interested in what the Bible says about sin.

Also, in the past week I kept an eye on another facebook war between an old friend (who is now a pastor) and his Bible college classmate.  It seems the classmate feels that my pastor-friend has become "soft" to sin and has publicly called the saints to pray that he will see the error of his ways.  In doing so he has riled the anger of many Christians due to his public rebuke of the pastor and his extremely "religious" opinions.  I say religious because he reminds me of the the Sadducee's and Pharisee's of Jesus' day with his "I am holy because I keep every commandment" attitude.  420 comments later, they are all still arguing. (none of those were my comments, by the way)  But all of this caused me to wonder what would Jesus do or say if he were peeking at facebook during these heated debates? (which He may very well be)

As a result of my wondering, I have decided to spend the next few weeks studying the red letters in my Bible.  I've read the four gospels in the past, but never to intentionally focus solely on the words of Jesus. In light of recent events I think this is the perfect time to do so.  I may share a bit of that on this blog or facebook, not in the hopes of sparking debate, but to simply chronicle the revelation I hope to receive from it.  In the mean time, I am still asking myself, WWJD?

                                                                               
                                                                           

                                                          

Wait.....for.....it......

Waiting!  Songs have been written about it, lives have been ruined by it, character has been built by it and I can't stand it!  Are you waiting on something?  Me too; it seems I'm always waiting.  Waiting in line, waiting for a table, (one of my least favorite things to do, by the way) waiting for test results, waiting on a phone call, waiting in traffic, waiting for the mail to run, waiting to see how it all turns out, waiting on a check, waiting on the water to boil...and the list goes on.

It feels like we spend most of our lives waiting.  Tom Petty says that "The waiting is the hardest part. You take it on faith, you take it to the heart. The waiting is the hardest part". One of my favorite oldies songs is "You can't hurry love, you just have to wait.  Love don't come easy, it's a game of give and take...".  Or how about John Mayer's "Waiting On the World to Change"? "We just keeping waiting...waiting on the world to change." All great songs about the one thing EVERYONE has in common...waiting.

Waiting takes patience and my patience wears out after a while.  When I say, "honey will you take the garbage out?' and he says, sure. Then 5 minutes later it's still there...I just go ahead and do it myself.  Therein lies the problem.  When I'm tired of waiting on something, I tend to take matters in to my own hands and "help" the situation get resolved.  Now, this ain't a bad thing if your waiting on your husband to take the garbage out, although it has caused a few riffs around here, but it can be a very bad thing when you're waiting on God to resolve a situation, only to help Him out and ruin His plan.

The Bible says a lot about waiting, to find this out I typed the words "wait on the Lord" in the search box on biblegateway.com and, wow! You should see all the results I got! But I think my most favorite verse has always been Isaiah 40:31 "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." According to this verse, waiting can bring about a renewal of strength, and a determination to keep on without growing weary or fainting? Umm... that still doesn't make me want to sign up for the "waiting group" at church.  I think I'd rather be in the "march around 7 times and shout for victory group".  But...my preference to be a doer rather than a waiter, is not going to get me anywhere when it comes to waiting on things to come to pass that I have no control over.  James 1:4 says to let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

My prayer this week is that I find rest in the "waiting areas" of my life.  I want to experience the kind of peace that only comes when your faith in God is so strong that no amount of waiting will cause you to doubt that God is working things out for your good. A non-wearying, non-fainting, strength-renewing, patience-perfecting, kind of faith. Lord, teach me how to wait...