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| Snow covers the hills with a blanket of snow |
I answer, "What shall I cry out?"
~Isaiah 40:6
The words from Isaiah today really made me stop and think. It is one of those Biblical readings that seems to be directed specifically at me.
So often it seems that when the Lord asks me to do something..."Cry out!" I am like the person in Isaiah who asks, "What shall I say?" Instead of being obedient, I have to query my Lord about the details. Maybe He just wants me to do something, anything.
As I have been pondering why I procrastinate so often about doing what I think God is calling me to do, I came across a meditation...and I am sorry that I did not remember to bookmark it so that I could link to it....that essentially said that while we make preparations and are waiting for the Lord's coming, He is also waiting for us to do His will.
It was an eye-opener for me because I hadn't thought that we must try God's patience with our endless pettiness and failures (procrastination??).
He waits for us to show Him that we are making progress and improving the world where He has placed us. I have often thought that if I lived someplace else or had a better means, I could do so much more for my Lord. He knows me well. What He is saying to me is that it doesn't matter where I am or by what means I choose to do His will. What is important to Him is that I act, using the tools he has given me and saying whatever I am inspired to say by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
How often have I thought, especially in recent years, that God must surely be coming soon in order to save us from the increasing evil that seems to permeate our world. What I had not thought about, and what now gives me pause, is that perhaps He waits for me to do something in order that someone might be saved. Maybe in order that I might be saved.
It has certainly changed my perspective on why He hasn't already come to redeem this poor world. Maybe He is waiting for me to reach out to my neighbor or my friends and family and share with them the one thing that may turn them back to the Lord. Or for me to do the one charitable act that might be of great help to Him in redeeming the world. As I am waiting for Him to come into the world, or better phrased, as I wait to celebrate His Nativity and His coming among us to save us, He might be forestalling His Second Coming in order that my prayers for the salvation of my family, friends and acquaintances and even myself can be answered. He might be waiting for me to act, to do the one simple duty He has given me to do that I keep procrastinating about doing. Lord, have mercy on me and inspire me to do your will.
