The missing nap.

My mom once told me that she “didn’t like to take naps because she was afraid she was going to miss something.” She didn’t elaborate on the thought, but I’m assuming she meant that if she fell asleep during the day she might miss a phone call from a close friend or the opportunity to do something spontaneous with my dad. Something unexpectedly meaningful would happen and by sleeping she wouldn’t have the chance to participate in it.

I feel the same way about being still and waiting. I’m afraid that if I’m still, I’ll miss something that could change my life. A new job opportunity, a friendship, an activity, something somewhere will occur and because I’m waiting on God I’ll miss it. Whatever it was that would completely save me will pass me by because I’m quietly being still.

But here’s the thing, as a Christian, that’s already happened. That thing, that all consuming event that I’m so afraid of missing, has already occurred. It’s done. I’ve accepted the gift of grace. I’ve accepted what Christ did for me on the cross. I can stop fearing I’ll miss the chance to find a solution to myself. The solution has found me.

And that’s why I can wait. That’s why God cries out to me in his word over and over to wait.

Psalm 46:10 – Be still and know that I am God.

Psalm 62:5 – Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

Proverbs 20:22 – Wait for the Lord and he will deliver you.

Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Romans 8:23-25 - We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

It’s impossible for me to miss something that will save me, I’ve already been saved. How good is our God that one of the first things he says to his children is be still? Instead of work, he says wait.

The challenge then becomes knowing when to wait and when to run.