Diamond in the Rough

Are you waiting for what you want or are you waiting upon the Lord?  

Waiting.  

One will be characterized by fear, panic, and anxieties.  The other will be marked by a renewed strength and a lack of weariness (Isaiah 40:31).  Waiting is a natural part of life.  Yet it is a part that our culture has tried to remove from society.  Why wait on the oven to warm up when you can use the microwave?  Why walk in to pay for gas when you can just do it at the pump?  Why go in and sit down to eat when you can just drive through and be on your way?  Why try to lose weight by eating better and working out when you could just take a pill?  The list goes on and on.  I am not against all modern conveniences.  It just seems as a whole, often they have done more harm than good.  While they make our external matters like cooking and pumping gas easier we are miserable inside because we want everything in this instant.  When the Lord does not desire something to happen in an instant we reach a point of turmoil.  Over what?  Simply having to wait.  Something that use to be a normal thing.  Farmers waited for crops to grow.  People waited for letters to be written and mailed.  It seems so simple.  Again, I am a huge fan of instant things like email and skype.  However, it burdens me that these instant external things have hindered me internally.  They have taught me impatience, greed and selfishness.  They have distanced me from my Lord.  They have taught me to be more concerned about me than Him.  

Waiting.  

What if we saw it as a gift rather than a curse?  A time to relax and trust in the Lord.  How would life change?  It’s often times like getting the horrifically ugly outfit at Christmas.  You feel forced to hold it up and express gratitude.  The whole time in your mind thinking...  “Please tell me there is a gift receipt!  PLEASE LET THEIR BE A RECEIPT!!”  You don’t want the gift.  You force a smile thinking of how could they waste a gift for you on something like that!?  What’s the focus here?  YOU!  How often do we treat the Lord with the same selfish mentality.  He chooses a time and season for us. Waiting being where I have found myself more often than not.  There are things about this season we know nothing of.  Yet in the foreknowledge of Christ He knows this is exactly what you need.  He knows that this waiting season will draw you closer to Him.  It will steady your heart for tougher situations to come.  It will help instill a greater hope and trust for things not of this earth!  He knows.  Bottom line.  Christ knows best.  Either we will learn to trust in His knowledge or we will continue to selfishly fight for our own desires.  Missing out on our strength being renewed and our weariness being defeated.  

Waiting.  

While it might not be the diamond every girl dreams of being given.  It most certainly is a diamond in the rough.  The potential for greatness is there, but will only be seen after proper polishing and refinement.  Polishing and refinement take time.  A season of waiting is necessary.  Waiting will always be an impossibility until our focus has been taken off of ourselves and placed on Christ.  Waiting is not what causes the misery we go through.  The misery is directly related to our selfishness as we are more consumed with getting what we want, than simply waiting upon the Lord.  Are you willing to appreciate the diamond in the rough and wait for it’s beauty to come forth as the Lord sees fit?