On Your Mark...Get Set...Wait

 

Tom Petty was the half-baked poet laureate for the 20-something baby boomers back in the 70’s and 80’s, which puts him just a decade or so before I came into my own.  But I like to think I was cultured enough in my emerging adult years to appreciate good music, and Mr. Petty fell right in rank. 

 

He and the “Heartbreakers” had this one song that’s been mumbling around in my mind.  The tune is there, but the only lyrics I remember are:  The waiting is the hardest part.  Then something…something…something.  Then again The wai-aiting is the hardest part, with that “ai” part in waiting sounding like a melodic hanging stutter. 

 

Do you remember that song?  It’s stuck in your head now?  Well, you’re welcome, because it’s true.  The waiting is the hardest part, and I want to linger there a moment.

 

Maybe you’ve had the chance to run in a track event.  Maybe you haven’t.  I’m guessing you’ve at least watched a track event and you’re familiar enough with the typical starting routine.

 

It occurs to me, living this whole past twelve months or so, watching and waiting for the world to “normalize,” has felt a bit like we’re living in that forever moment between the READY…SET and the gun cracking to start the race. 

 

Or, even more, remember the scrappy little punk who always goofed around with the false start for those neighborhood road races? 

 

“On your mark… 

GET SET… 

STOP! 

BAHAHAHAHA…”

 

And we’d all jump off the start line in a hustle, only to put the brakes on and grumble about how he always does that. 

 

Either scenario, haven’t these days felt like that to you; like we’re all waiting around for the starting gun to crack; for our personal pursuits to finally restart; for the race as we knew it to get underway. 

 

And I think sometimes the waiting is the hardest part.  It’s the waiting that really gets to us.  Not necessarily the fact that we can’t do this or that, but rather the waiting for this or that to finally arrive.

 

Further still, I think it’s the waiting that causes some folks to jump the gun, don’t you?  I think it’s the waiting that causes some folks to get disqualified before the race has even begun.

 

I wonder if there’s

a better way to wait.

 

In the Bible, Peter has some words for us that are helpful.  In 1 Peter 1:10 he says, “Hey, listen, concerning this salvation…” and he’s talking about this salvation that has been proven through our genuine faith (see previous verses or previous blog post), he says, “concerning this salvation, IT’S AMAZING STUFF!”

 

Now I’m paraphrasing of course, but get this; he says the prophets of old carefully searched around trying to get their minds wrapped around this idea of a Messiah-Redeemer who would offer salvation by faith to anyone.  What’s more, he says even the angels long to understand this type of stuff. 

 

And he says this salvation is yours, it’s all yours – ours!  This salvation of our souls is ours to live into AND to live out of!  And this is where Peter helps us when we’re grounded in a season of waiting.

 

God’s salvation produces in us

the will and ability to wait well.

 

Peter tells us what waiting well could look like in verses 13 to 15:

 

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.”

 

Did you catch it?  There are four points on waiting well.  Did you catch all four?  They can be easy to miss.  Maybe read it one more time, and then read on below.

 

Four points on waiting well?  Here:

 

·        Prepare your minds for action

·        Be self-controlled

·        Set your hope fully on God’s grace

·        Don’t turn back to former ways

 

So here we are waiting around for the world to feel more like it always used to, and it has been trial-some and wearying.  And it is as though Peter puts his finger in our chest, presses it in just a bit and says…

 

Listen, Christian,

be ready

be steady

be hopeful

be forward facing

 

Am I off my rocker to suggest that sounds like the heart of a runner in the starting blocks waiting out that forever moment for the gun to go off? 

 

Friend, that’s where we need to be right now.  As faith-filled followers of Jesus Christ, we need to have this posture where we are ready, steady, hope-filled, and forward-facing.  And if you aim for this, you’re going to look different than most folks around you.  But Isn’t that the whole point.  That’s why Peter says, “just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,” be set apart, be different, be UNCOMMON.  That’s when folks take notice and ask about the hope that you have! 

 

Today, and in these days to come, no matter how long they stretch out, may I encourage you to wait well?  May I give courage to you by insisting we all…

Be ready

Be steady

Be hopeful

Be forward-facing friends