Waiting On Furniture

Air mattresses do not make good living room furniture.

For the past week my family has been using just that. It has been about as fun as one would assume. My grandparents recently bought new furniture but before it came we got rid of the old stuff. Hence the air mattresses. Our new furniture was not set to come in until sometime this morning. So when we got a call last night that they could deliver early, well you can only imagine how happy we all were. However, no one was as happy as my grandmother. She was ecstatic. Beyond that even. She was jubilant.

Imagine for a second a child on Christmas Eve waiting on Santa Claus. You know the kid. The one with his little sticky fingers on the door handle and his nose pressed against door. He takes on a face like a little piggy and can't stop squirming with excitement. That was my grandmother last night. She waited at the door for ten minutes and watched.

 

This morning after reading the verse of the day from K-LOVE, I began to think "Now why don't we act like that with God?" The verse says:

 

"Joyful are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home!" Proverbs 8:34

 

Can you picture that? I can just imagine myself sitting at those pearly gates. I can see myself sitting before His throne. Joyful. Ecstatic. Jubilant. What if we got that excited about His word? What if, instead of being excited for the next big thing, what if we were excited for His second coming? What if we were joyful each time we got an opportunity to see someone get close to God? What if we became ecstatic when we were waiting in lines instead of feeling slowed down?

 

God places us in positions to test and try us. He allows the Devil to bring us down so He can bring us back up. Life gets so hard sometimes. Being in college and feeling the consistent pressures from this world, I know just how hard it can get. I know that there are times when I want to give in to temptation and allow the things of this world to satisfy me. Heck, there have been plenty of times in the past three years that I have done just that. There are so many things in my past I'm not proud of. 

 

But those are the things God has used to show me just how much He truly loves me. Those are the times when He just wants me to wait and listen to His word. The times when it feels like no one could understand the pain and strife I'm dealing with. The times when I don't think I can leave my bed. The times when I want to cry for hours on the front porch and blame God for allowing me to face such difficult struggles. Those are the moments He longs for us to just watch and wait. Slow down.

 

In those moments, allow yourself to be excited. Allow yourself to look at your life through fresh eyes. Allow yourself to sit outside His home and be joyful. Give Him glory instead of blame. He deserves nothing but your all. So today while you are reading His word or taking a moment to enjoy some worship music, picture yourself at the door waiting for your Father to come home. Because one day He will return and I only hope I can daily exude the joy that my grandmother did last night. When the furniture FINALLY came.