Life is full of waiting moments. You wait for your baby to arrive. You wait for your wedding day. You wait for the call that says you got the job. You wait for the brownies to finish baking. You wait. Do you realize that in all these simple, life moments, God is behind the scenes preparing you for what will take place? Can you imagine what He is doing unbeknownst to you when you are waiting for Kingdom work to be done? You wait and pray for a door to open so you can share the Gospel. You wait and pray for God to give you opportunity to serve another who has a need. You sit tight while God moves in your spouse’s life or your child’s life.
What does the posture of sitting tight look like in everyday life?
Paul waited, and he shares in Philippians 3:12-4:1 what life looks like while you wait on God. He learned valuable lessons from God and he penned these fitting words to help you (and me) as we wait for cooler weather, answered prayers, or even dinner to be done.
Every person is called to press on. God is calling you to press on. There is a heavenly race that is being run, and you must keep moving forward. You are to focus on one thing, and that is to possess the perfection of walking in Christ. No one reaches such perfection until God takes them home, but until then, He walks with you and helps you to walk in the newness of life that He gives; see 2 Corinthians 5:17.
You are to continually look forward to what lies ahead. For every true believer, what lies ahead is eternal life. There is no greater prize. Forget the past, what is done is done. Learn from it and move on. Hold on to the progress you have made in your faith and keep looking up. Don’t let the enemy trip you. One wrong decision can send you spirally down hard and fast.
Paul has been through a lot since becoming a follower of Jesus. He encourages you (and I) to pattern our lives after his. Learn from him and others who are completely sold out in following Christ. Paul says this because too many believers actually live as an enemy of the cross by how they live their life. “Their god is their appetite. They think only about this life here on earth.”19 They like Jesus+ way more than just Jesus. They desire heaven and earth at the same time.
God calls every true believer “a citizen of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. We are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior.”20
While waiting is hard, especially if you are sitting tight for quite awhile, it is good to remember that Jesus will bring everything under His control one day soon. God has not forgotten you. While it may feel like He has, He hasn’t. With every word you pray, whether audibly or silently, God is moving on your behalf. Knowing this truth like Paul does, you are to stay true to the Lord even when you are sitting tight.
God needs you to remain abiding in Christ for you are exactly where God needs you to be. Press on with Jesus.
Carol J German 