Remembering the Gospel in the Waiting

The sun had just gone down, but the humidity had certainly gone up. I walked laps around my neighborhood talking to a friend, listening to her share an update on her life and circumstances. The regression, the loss of hope, the hurt, the fears. I wanted to fix it all, but had no power over any of it. As we hung up the phone, I felt a wave of anger towards God wash over me. Why aren’t you doing anything?!

For a million reasons, we all experience various degrees of hurt. Anger. Exhaustion and doubt in waiting. I’m right in it with you. And in these emotions, I think there are times when we’re tempted to forget who God is and who we are not. 

God is good. He loves us, right now. He is indeed listening. He is indeed working. We aren’t forgotten. He is the Creator, and we are the created. We are not more loving and compassionate. We are not more opposed to evil, and we are not more wise than Him. 

May we remember the gospel.

Because before the foundations of the world, God knew what it would cost. When he warned Adam and Eve, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” [1] he knew it wouldn’t just be their death, but it would be his. And he didn’t bail. He jumped in and saved us before we even wanted it [2]. 

So when we are praying yet another year for that simple thing we know God could provide, let us look to the cross. When we are grieving the shock of a tragedy, let us look to the cross. When we are waiting for that longing to be fulfilled, let us look to the cross. Let us look to a tree of public execution where this same all-powerful God hung stripped of his dignity to cover a debt that we owed. To satisfy a payment that we couldn’t pay. To bring us into a forever kingdom that we could never get into otherwise.

Let us look upon the blood and the water and see. This is a God whose love knows no limits. Who wouldn’t even hold back his son, but willingly gave him up to die on our behalf [3]. Don’t we understand? There is nothing greater he could have done. No greater sacrifice. No greater gift. He is the Almighty King over all existence, and He has given us direct access to himself. As sons. As daughters. As friends.

While we can’t be sure of our circumstances, we can be sure of our God. We can be sure of his character, his presence, his promises. We can be sure of his hope.

Because we also have a resurrection we can look to. We have an empty grave we can remember, a guarantee that because he lives we know we will too. We have a grand display that our God is the greatest. That his name is the highest. And that one day, he’ll make all things new. The suffering and sadness will be no more. The tears will be wiped away, and we will dwell with him in his kingdom. Forever. [4]

When we look to the cross, let us see a God who enters the suffering with us so we don’t suffer alone. And when we look at the grave, let us see a God who has triumphed over death, so we may live forever with him.

God created the world and it was good. And when evil invaded, it was under his Sovereign hand. And it was within the guarantee that the kingdom of life and light would prevail. That the Savior would triumph. That the people would be rescued. 

His timing may be far different from ours, but may we never believe the lie that God isn’t doing anything, that he hasn’t done anything. And may we surely never believe the lie that he’s holding out on us, that his love isn’t that great. He’s the Creator, the Savior, the sentenced, the resurrected. He’s the Everlasting King, and he loves us. 

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. – 1 John 4:9-10

[1] Genesis 2:17
[2] Romans 5:8
[3] Romans 8:32
[4] Revelation 21:3-4

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Worship: Son of Suffering
Reckless Love
Holy Forever

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Respond: Read Psalm 13
What do we learn about God?
What can we trust in?
What can we rejoice in?
Why can we sing?
How does this apply to your life? Take some time to write out your response to God.

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