March 3, 1997 ?
In a lifetime, the average North American will spend six months sitting at stop lights, eight months opening junk mail, and five years waiting in line. We might be able to shorten the time on junk mail but what can we do to make the time we wait for other people seem more productive?
Before offering suggestions, maybe waiting is not as bad as we insists it is. Always hurrying can be unhealthy. Taking a breather, even in traffic, can keep some of us from losing our senses. In fact, the bigger problem could be impatience. Inner agitation at whatever puts us on hold is more destructive to mental and physical health than spending a few minutes paused at the mercy of machines, traffic lights or the slow clerk at the other end of the line.
However, life is short enough as it is without filling it with years of do-nothing, waiting-for-someone-else-to move minutes. Demands for increased productivity and for more attention to personal development make us impatient with delays. Instead of allowing those delays to fill us with anxiety or resentment, we can use them wisely.
Standard suggestions for sit-down waiting include writing thank-you notes, reading, planning with a notebook and calendar, and knitting or other crafts. Be sure to include the children if that is your situation. My daughter reads to her younger daughter in waiting rooms, while the older one does her homework.
Some people talk to friends or business associates on their cellular phone. Obviously that works for them, but for some reason, it makes me feel like my privacy is being invaded. Those who would rather keep their business and personal affairs private can dispense with a cell phone but use a laptop computer to write letters or outline a business proposal. More than one person has threatened to bill their doctor for the hours spent waiting; however, in our electronic age, we do not need to put work on hold while someone makes us wait.
Personally, I usually take a notebook with me and plan my shopping list, read and take notes for homework assignments, prepare short speeches, outline a Sunday School lesson or design quilt blocks. I also write in my journal, work through relationship snags and rehearse what I want to say to someone I may owe an apology or explanation.
The best idea is using waiting time to draw closer to God. The Psalms are filled with verses referring to waiting on Him but my favorite passage comes from Isaiah 40:29-31: “(God) gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Waiting on God is not the same as being stuck in a hospital waiting room or at the end of a long lineup for tickets. Instead, it is simply refusing to think (worry) about other things or focus on anything else but Him. It is approaching Him as a listener, waiting for His commands and His inner encouragement. It is eagerly standing or sitting still, watching for the signs that He is coming or doing something on our behalf. It is setting aside all the chores and cares of the moment to focus on Him, to hear His voice and be refreshed.
Waiting on God requires time. It takes time to learn how and time to perfect. It also takes time to just do it. If our schedules are already full and making an appointment with Him is difficult, then the best time might be while we are waiting and unable to do anything else.
Showing posts with label wasted lives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wasted lives. Show all posts
Friday, February 10, 2017
Monday, March 16, 2015
The most precious gift ................. Parables 248
(December 26, 1990)
A truck driver, speeding along a city interstate, spotted a large, floppy cardboard box in the middle of his lane. Knowing his truck would not be damaged by an empty box that had likely blown unto the roadway, he almost didn’t swerve. However, on a hunch, he changed lanes at the last minute. As the box appeared in his rear-view mirror, he was horrified to see a small child crawl out of it.
Right after Christmas, there are boxes everywhere. Unless some gift was accidentally left inside, the containers are discarded or recycled with little loss. The real treasures have been left under the tree, on the dining room table, in the family room, in a closet, or wherever people put their gifts. The boxes have little value.
Nevertheless, I used to save boxes, just in case they were needed to mail or store something. They filled up space in the garage and became a nuisance. I was teased about my pile of boxes and my only defense was that at least I didn’t keep the box and throw away the contents!
But who would do that? According to Jesus, people do it all the time. Concerning what people keep and what people throw away, He said this: “What profit is it to anyone to preserve his box with its wrappings and throw away his most precious gift? Do people realize what they are exchanging for this gift?” (Matthew 16:26, my paraphrase).
Jesus was contrasting the gift of eternal life with the wrappings -- namely temporary physical life. He made it quite clear that anyone who considers the wrappings more important than the gift, is ignorant of what is truly valuable. The preceding verse puts it this way: “Whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
Self-preservation is a pretty strong instinct. (What on earth was that child doing out in traffic?) We carefully guard our life and hang on to it, wanting as much control as possible. However, Jesus says we need to reconsider and relinquish the priority and preservation we zealously hold on this life. In other words, if we want eternal life, this life, and control of this life, has to be surrendered to Him.
The Apostle Paul tossed the box and kept the gift. He did it because He believed the promises of God. He confidently declared: (again, my paraphrase) “We know that if the houses we live in are destroyed, we have a place to live from God, a home not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
Jesus didn’t advocate neglecting our physical needs. However, much of the money, time and effort people spend on trying to preserve the box is not only vain, it is foolish. Why grasp hold of and pamper something that cannot be kept in the long run, and thoughtlessly toss away something that, if kept, can never, ever be lost?
When we trust our life to Christ, God promises someday to give us an eternal “container,” a new body that is incorruptible, one that experiences no pain or sorrow. Paul was so sure of that reality, at the end of his life he was eager to leave behind the body he lived in. God had given him a glimpse of paradise. He also knew his “box” had served its purpose.
Tossing out the extra cartons and wrapping paper at the end of this year is a good time to ask ourselves: Have I received the real gift, the one that will last forever? Or am I throwing out what Jesus wants to give me and keeping something that one day I will certainly lose?
A truck driver, speeding along a city interstate, spotted a large, floppy cardboard box in the middle of his lane. Knowing his truck would not be damaged by an empty box that had likely blown unto the roadway, he almost didn’t swerve. However, on a hunch, he changed lanes at the last minute. As the box appeared in his rear-view mirror, he was horrified to see a small child crawl out of it.
Right after Christmas, there are boxes everywhere. Unless some gift was accidentally left inside, the containers are discarded or recycled with little loss. The real treasures have been left under the tree, on the dining room table, in the family room, in a closet, or wherever people put their gifts. The boxes have little value.
Nevertheless, I used to save boxes, just in case they were needed to mail or store something. They filled up space in the garage and became a nuisance. I was teased about my pile of boxes and my only defense was that at least I didn’t keep the box and throw away the contents!
But who would do that? According to Jesus, people do it all the time. Concerning what people keep and what people throw away, He said this: “What profit is it to anyone to preserve his box with its wrappings and throw away his most precious gift? Do people realize what they are exchanging for this gift?” (Matthew 16:26, my paraphrase).
Jesus was contrasting the gift of eternal life with the wrappings -- namely temporary physical life. He made it quite clear that anyone who considers the wrappings more important than the gift, is ignorant of what is truly valuable. The preceding verse puts it this way: “Whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
Self-preservation is a pretty strong instinct. (What on earth was that child doing out in traffic?) We carefully guard our life and hang on to it, wanting as much control as possible. However, Jesus says we need to reconsider and relinquish the priority and preservation we zealously hold on this life. In other words, if we want eternal life, this life, and control of this life, has to be surrendered to Him.
The Apostle Paul tossed the box and kept the gift. He did it because He believed the promises of God. He confidently declared: (again, my paraphrase) “We know that if the houses we live in are destroyed, we have a place to live from God, a home not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
Jesus didn’t advocate neglecting our physical needs. However, much of the money, time and effort people spend on trying to preserve the box is not only vain, it is foolish. Why grasp hold of and pamper something that cannot be kept in the long run, and thoughtlessly toss away something that, if kept, can never, ever be lost?
When we trust our life to Christ, God promises someday to give us an eternal “container,” a new body that is incorruptible, one that experiences no pain or sorrow. Paul was so sure of that reality, at the end of his life he was eager to leave behind the body he lived in. God had given him a glimpse of paradise. He also knew his “box” had served its purpose.
Tossing out the extra cartons and wrapping paper at the end of this year is a good time to ask ourselves: Have I received the real gift, the one that will last forever? Or am I throwing out what Jesus wants to give me and keeping something that one day I will certainly lose?
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