“The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next” (Romans 8:19, MSG).
Consider the following survey. Say that you find yourself waiting behind another car in the McDonald’s drive-thru. The individual in front of you is having trouble making up her mind whether or not she wants a café` mocha or a cappuccino. You, however, have just a few minutes to get to your doctor’s appointment on time. Do you:
A. Get out of your car to explain to the person the calories they will add to their waistline by
ordering either item?
Paul offered the following observation of the human condition: “The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next” (Romans 8:19, MSG). Paul’s insight is a commentary on the state of the society in which we live. We hardly can wait for what’s coming next. Of course, one reason as to why we can hardly wait is simply because waiting requires patience. But, more than patience, waiting requires humility.
Yet I’ve come to appreciate waiting. In fact, I personally benefit greatly from waiting. When I wait I am reminded that I am not in charge. God humbles me while I am waiting for Him. Waiting is God’s way of saying, “I’m in control here, not you.”
Not only is waiting good for us, but in the midst of waiting, something good happens within us. This is Paul’s message beginning in verse twenty-two:
“All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain through the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs…That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting…” (Romans 8:22-24).
Paul used the metaphor of pregnancy to make a point. Waiting gives God an opportunity to do something in us before seeking to produce something through us. Waiting isn’t just something we have to do in order to get what we want. Waiting is the vital process God uses to help us become what He wants us to be.
So, the next time you find yourself seven cars deep in a fast food drive-thru consider yourself blessed. While you wait God is birthing something new within you. Best of all, you won’t get morning sickness when drinking your cappuccino.