Waiting

The Satisfaction of the Soul

by Andy Wood on March 16, 2011

in Esteem, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

Somewhere in the places where sighs give way to hope and promises sing to aching hearts, your soul waits for something different.  More than the pleasure of a passing moment or those 15 minutes of look-at-me, you were created with a craving soul.  “He has planted eternity in the human heart,” Solomon said, “but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

One day – sooner rather than later – that craving will be satisfied.  And not by what the pavement is made of or what the real estate market is like past the pearly gates.  Not by something that resembles Sunday morning at the church house, Monday noon at the White House, or Friday night at the penthouse.  Craving souls are smarter and deeper than that.

One day – nearer rather than farther – tired hearts, stale relationships and flyblown religion will give way to a new dawn.   And at long last your soul will taste satisfaction.  Ashes will give way to beauty.  You’ll trade your mourning in for the oil of joy.  You’ll wear a garment of praise – complete with dancing shoes – instead of a spirit of heaviness.  In the satisfaction of the soul… [click to continue…]

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The Waiting List

by Andy Wood on January 21, 2011

in Life Currency, LV Cycle, Time, Waiting

This is a season of Death-By-To-Do-List.  The quiet pause, lethargy, and feeding frenzy of the holidays are followed by the jump-started, resolution-driven frenzy of the New Year.  So this morning I started my journaling by listing one or two things I still haven’t done this week.  And the one or two became six or seven.

“I swear, I’ll die by checklist overload,” I wrote.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s missing in our life planning.  It’s so easy to get lost in the whirlwind of the frenetic or even the focus of the goal-directed that we neglect some of the most significant parts of the plan.

Like waiting.

I’m all about making mission statements that lead to goals lists that lead to action steps toward making those goals and mission a reality.  I get it.  I completely understand that if you aren’t taking massive action in the direction of your dreams you are probably kissing some of them good-bye.

How do you respond, however, when the dream or passion is completely authentic, but there is literally nothing you can do about it today – at least in outward to-do-list fashion?  How do you keep the important, important, when it’s not front-and-center in your appointment book? [click to continue…]

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My Christmas Prayer for You

by Andy Wood on December 25, 2010

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting

Wherever you may find yourself this Christmas – in prosperity or poverty, health or sickness, laughter or tears, togetherness or solitude – I pray that you will experience the same sense of wonder, gratitude, and grace (and more) that I have found. 

I pray that in the midst of all you call blessings, you experience the beauty of knowing the miracle of being loved in this life – deeply, fully, completely…

That the evening shadows and stars remind you of the one star that mattered most and the Spirit behind it, guiding those who sought Jesus to discover His presence, and to miss Herod’s schemes…

That as heaven and nature sing of the glory of God, the mountains you face only serve as reminders that they are no match for the love He has shown you in His coming and His care…

That Jesus, our Emmanuel, would manifest His faithful awareness and presence and the miracle that takes place when God and sinners are reconciled in love and grace…

That whether you hear His voice in a prayer or a song, a promise or a still small voice, that you would truly hear it – and that as He sings over you, you would taste and see that the Lord is good,  His mercy everlasting, and His truth endures forever to you and yours…

That joyfully and triumphantly, you would live in anticipation and adoration of the Word of the Father who appeared in flesh, and that you would not for one moment miss the opportunity to invest your life in what He is still doing today…

That in the silence of the night or the newness and glory of the morning, you would experience again and again the coming of the King – with the promise that the One who lit the sky once will split the sky when He comes again to claim you…

That the nearness and tender care of the Lord Jesus would carry you through the seasons of loss and the memories of those you miss this Christmas season…

And that the Carpenter’s son who built a bridge of goodness and light will find you waiting, however long it takes, for the day He returns.

Merry Christmas!

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I’ll Be Home for Christmas

by Andy Wood on December 17, 2010

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

On October 4, 1943, Bing Crosby recorded a song that captured the imagination of millions of Americans.  Within three weeks it was on the top music charts, and remained there for 11 weeks.  A year later, it returned to the charts again.  Since then, it has been recorded by nearly 250 artists.  It was the first song broadcast into space, and remains to this day one of the most cherished songs of all time. 

Remember, the entire world was galvanized in a world war, and hundreds of thousands of American soldiers were in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific fighting for our future.  Nearly the entire country was unified behind our fighting men. 

The name of the song – “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” 

Something about Christmas makes us want to go home, or at least to be somewhere with people we care about.  [click to continue…]

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Changing Seasons, Changing Lives

by Andy Wood on November 27, 2010

in Insight, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Waiting

Years ago a Persian king wanted to discourage his sons from making rash judgments.  He sent the oldest son on a winter journey to see a mango tree.  Spring came and the second oldest went on the same trip.  Summer followed and the third son went.  When the youngest boy returned from his autumn visit, the king called them together to describe the tree. 

The first said, “It looks like a burnt old stump.”  The second described it as lovely and green; the third declared its blossoms as beautiful as the rose.  The fourth said all were wrong.  “Its fruit is like a pear.” 

“Each is right,” the king said.  “You just saw the same tree in a different season.”  

Before you evaluate other people, make sure you have seen them in all their seasons.  No one is always anything.  [click to continue…]

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Lonely for God

by Andy Wood on September 17, 2010

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting

Thomasville, Alabama.  A long time ago.  I was driving from Jackson to Tuscaloosa and had stopped for gas at one of those places where they still pumped it for you.  Young man walks out and gets the pump going while I’m pretty much minding my own business.  I’m wearing jeans and tennis shoes, with some casual shirt.

He eyes me and asks, “You a minister?”

(I hated then and hate now looking like a preacher.)

“Yes,” I replied, surprised.  “How did you know?”

“You have this glow about ‘cha,” he said with a smile.

I was surprised again, and blessed.  This wasn’t a particularly glowing trip.  I was driving north to unload a car on the back end of a dumb purchase that had left us pretty beaten down financially.  It was a desperate move to get out of a stupid debt.

Glow?  I’d have to take that one by faith.  It felt more like I was panting.

As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So my soul pants for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;

When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1-2)

Ever feel like you were panting?  Like you couldn’t quite catch your breath as you went from one thing to another?  From one stressor to another?  From one disappointment to another? [click to continue…]

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God is NOT Testing Your Patience

by Andy Wood on September 15, 2010

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Tense Truths, Waiting

Ever have this happen in school?  You study most of the night for your 8:00 history class.  You’re ready with the names, dates, big themes and theories.  You show up loaded for historic bear… only to discover your history exam isn’t until next week.

Meanwhile, in your 9:00 chemistry class…

Oh…  crap…  Tell me I didn’t just study for the wrong test.

I did.  And maybe you have, too.

You see, for years I’ve been studying for the Midterm Patience Exam.  It’s become something of a byword in Christian circles, if not a bad joke: [click to continue…]

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The Unremarkable Life of Barry Wheezer

by Andy Wood on September 13, 2010

in Esteem, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

There wasn’t much about Barry Wheeler to command respect.  He was certainly no athlete.  His skinny frame was the product of a lifetime of allergies and a bad case of asthma that earned him the cruel nickname of “Barry Wheezer.”

Barry was no musician or class politician.  He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and his shy, withdrawn personality made him just another face in the crowd at high school in Topeka.

Barry was no geekzilla either.  A “B” student in regular classes, nobody called Barry out for the National Honor Society – or any honor, for that matter.

Barry was just a guy.  But he had one thing going for him. [click to continue…]

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Passing Sighs of the Longing Heart

by Andy Wood on September 10, 2010

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

I still miss her sometimes.  Pity I’m so busy I don’t miss her more.  For me it’s mostly in passing sighs… Like now.  (-From my journal a couple of days ago, referring to my mother, who died earlier this year.)

Heard any sermons on longing lately?

I doubt it.

In spite of the fact that it’s such a common experience, and one that is treated a surprising number of times in the Bible, “Dealing with Longing” doesn’t typically generate offerings, baptisms, or slick series brochures from the local worship establishment.

And yet it’s there… right in plain sight.  The Bible’s own version of “Miss You Like Crazy.”

Paul wrote those wild child Corinthians a pretty dress-you-down letter (we call it 1 Corinthians).  Their response?  They turned their hearts, and longed to see Paul.  His reply?  Same thing.  [click to continue…]

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Call Him Benjamin

by Andy Wood on September 1, 2010

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting, Words

Call him Benjamin. 

Nice Hebrew name for this fictional, but oh-so-real young man who lived outside of Jerusalem in the first century.  Benjamin is 20 years old, and his family raised him in a typical Jewish home.

Until that day. [click to continue…]

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