Waiting...Perfected

Writing a Christian-themed blog is tricky. It’s like baking a red velvet cake, which, if you’ve never tried it, is a challenge to get to rise perfectly without becoming a red velvet brownie. If you cook it too quickly, a red velvet cake rises unevenly and becomes an ugly mess. If you wait too long, the red velvety edges become hard as bark. But if you mix it exactly right, cook it at the exact right temperature, and wait until the exact time the cake is done, the cake emerges exactly as it should and tastes perfect.

This blog is based on scripture and the focus is on applying Jesus’ teachings from the Bible to everyday life. Sometimes the challenge is on timing, knowing which issues are ripe for discussion and which are overdone. Sometimes the challenge is in knowing which issues matter and which no longer resonate with the audience. And still sometimes the challenge is in deciding which issues just need to be put to bed.

Politics is divisive by its very nature. Since this blog is titled ‘God Provides where Hate Divides,’ it seems fitting that I address political issues quite frequently. However, at a time when America’s political climate seems run by five year-olds with marketing agents, it seems counterproductive to keep harping on Christians to be the adult in the room. Some political issues just never seem to change regardless of how much scripture we throw at them. What is worse, some Christians prefer to use scripture to justify poor political choices. It makes it hard to divine which is the pearl and which is the swine. (Matt 7:6)

Tragedies are also common topics, since in tragedy most folks either praise God for his protecting hand or curse him for not sparing them. It is easy to cry, “God, where were you” and it is increasingly more difficult to speak truth in the face of tragedy, especially when first reactions are accusatory. And again, speaking on God’s ever-present and good nature seems to fall on deaf ears in the aftermath of most tragedies. Those praising God appreciate confirmation of their beliefs while those cursing him aren’t listening anyway. When do we stop preaching to the choir and just sit and listen to what the hurting really need, and wait for a time when they will listen to the answer? (Ecc 3:1)

In a world where people are increasingly divided and where Christians are under increasing pressure to just let everyone be who they want to be, the mere act of writing about God’s truth becomes more and more challenging. Sometimes it even becomes a waiting game. When you have written a dozen times about loving your neighbor, but your neighbor again calls you ignorant and says your “version of love” is part of the problem, that’s when writing turns to waiting. In these times of waiting, I am reminded of the Bible’s numerous references to God’s timing.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecc 3:1)

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psa 27:14)

God is in the waiting just as much as He is in the acting – or in this case in the writing. His timing is perfect and sometimes we just need to let him work. Like a red velvet cake, we can’t speed up his timing by increasing the temperature, nor can we reach his end sooner just by taking the cake out early. The perfect cake requires perfect mixing, perfect temperature, and perfect timing. And like the perfect red velvet cake, after God has given us the perfect ingredients and we have mixed the perfect batter in life, the perfect result requires waiting. Just as the Bible calls us to “not grow weary in well-doing” (Gal 6:9), it also calls us to persevere in waiting. Because in waiting, God’s purpose is perfected.

(Photo: Cooking Classy)