living holy week all year.

Well, after a bit of hiatus, I'm back to waiting.
I've found myself sitting at a coffee shop in KC after being dropped off by one ride and waiting for another to take me back to Minnesota.  My ride here had to go to work.  My ride from here wasn't planning to meet me for awhile, so here I am.  Waiting.

I don't mind it.  I smile...it brings me back to what God is teaching me.  Besides, it's kind of nice having blocked out time for solitude.  I also enjoyed some down time at the same cafe on the way here for before Easter.  And as I think about it, I can't help but think how appropriate it is.

It doesn't really get much air time in Scripture, but waiting was a big part of the Passion and Easter story.  From Good Friday to Easter Sunday, Jesus' friends were waiting.  Check it out.

Luke says: 
It was Preparation Day. The Sabbath was about to begin.  The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph. They saw the tomb and how Jesus' body was placed in it.  Then they went home. There they prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath day in order to obey the Law. (Luke 23:54-56)


I don't really think they really got the fact that they were waiting for the resurrection.  Jesus tried to explain it, but still, here we find the disciples hiding in fear for three days.  The disciples were hiding, waiting for resolution.  The women were waiting for Sabbath/Passover to end so they could go anoint Jesus' Body.  Now that their Messiah was dead and the hope that they were looking for died, they were waiting for what would happen next.  Regardless of what they would've liked to do, it was the Sabbath.  They had to be still and wait in accordance with the Jewish law.  The women were eager to go to Jesus' body.  So eager that they prepared everything before the Sabbath, so they could leave right away when it broke.  Until then, though, they could do nothing.  No funeral ceremonies or preparations.  No making casseroles for the bereaved family or picking hymns.  No ordering flowers.  They had to wait.  Waiting was and is difficult.

The three days.  It's the down time between death and new life.  It's often where we live now--experiencing the effects of brokenness and not yet in the full resurrection that is coming.  Jesus saying to us: "Wait.  There's nothing you can do.  Let me make all things new.  Let me show my glory."  Boy, did he.  In a way those women could've never imagined (see stones will roll for more on that story).

And as I sit here waiting, I wonder if it could be beneficial to us to live life in a Holy Week cycle. 

Without being a Debbie downer, I'll be honest.  In my world (and if you're honest, in your world), Good Friday looms all year round.  Every time I get dropped off by someone I love, it's a little Good Friday.  It hurts.  Friends experience difficult times.  Death happens.  Great experiences come to an end.  Good Friday keeps popping up.

But Good Friday always gives way to a victorious Sunday.  Jesus comes and does make all things new.

My days, weeks, months, and years are filled with glimpses of Easter.  Creation is so excited with new life that it can't be contained!  Take a new day, for example.  It's a new chance for life.  A new shot at living life to the full and bringing life to others.  Every time I get picked up by someone I love, it's a little Easter.  New life is breathed into me.  New opportunity.  New fun and stories.  A new journey.

From something dead comes life.  That's Easter, people.  It's all around us.  I  pray that God would give us eyes that eagerly look for Easter when hints of Good Friday loom.  That we would have hearts that can't help but wait to see Christ glorified in darkness.  In times of death and brokenness, we would see it as another opportunity for Christ to bring His resurrection to life in our lives.  God help us to trust the end of the story.  Give us lives of hope--hope knowing that death couldn't hold You.  Hope that promises in all things You're working for Your glory and our good.  Help us not to be stuck on Good Friday, but excited for Sunday.  You're good, Lord.  Thanks for Sunday.  Thank you that we have something sure that we're waiting for--that we can live in Your Holy Week.

waiting here for you.

Chris Tomlin was in town last week and ever since, I've been trying to gather my thoughts to share with you what a blessing it was.   I could write a whole journal full of what I took in from that night of worship and teaching.  So I'll do my best to be focused.  If you want to hear more, buy me coffee and we'll chat.
I have to be honest, some of the things that were said that night were unreal and in the midst of thousands, the words spoke directly to my heart.  I might've laughed out loud when Chris Tomlin decided to stop in the middle of a set and speak about what it means to wait on the Lord.  Seriously??  What is this that keeps following me?!  I turn to my friend, Alyssa, and smile.  She says to me, "you're going to blog about this, aren't you?"  And so here we are.

Do you ever want to give up?  Or maybe you wouldn't admit to it with your mouth, but your life would prove that you already have.  I'm not a quitter.  I never have been, but it seems lately, that I've begun settling for the "good enoughs" of life.
        "Well..I don't like this about me, but no matter how I try it's not going away, so I'll just deal with it.  It's who I am."  "This situation isn't ideal, but I need to just suck it up and push through."  "I don't have balance in my life, but maybe this was what God had in mind for my story."

Oh friends, the things we settle for.  I quit waiting.  I said I was waiting, but really not believing that the promise of life to the full would continue to unfold.  Chris talked about coming to the throne of God with expectation for His promises to be fulfilled.  Expecting that He's going to move.  Expecting that He's going to keep bringing freedom, keep bringing life, keep bringing forth His glory in any and all situations.

Then Christy Nockels sang this song, Waiting Here for You:
If faith can move the mountains, let the mountains move.
We come with expectations, waiting here for You.
Waiting here for You.

You're the Lord of all creation and still You know my heart.
The author of salvation, You've loved us from the start.

Waiting here for You, with our hands lifted high in praise.
And it's You we adore, singing alleluia.

You are everything You've promised.
Your faithfulness is true.
And we're desperate for Your presence.
All we need is You.

(You may or may not be able to find a recording of this on youtube because of copyright things.)


As she sang, I closed my eyes realizing how easily I'd given up hope and how small I'd made the God of the universe.  I quit expecting.  Settling for good enough.  Accepting brokenness as "as whole as it's going to get."  Telling myself that it wasn't possible for God to move in these areas of my life.  I am so sorry, Lord.  How dare I try to limit what You have in store for me.  How dare I quit expecting for You to be glorified in my life.

Louie Giglio took some time to teach in between the two worship sets.  In one part, he talked about raising hands.  Specifically, he mentioned that one of the ways that we raise hands in worship is in desperate hope for God to come through.  Desperate hope.  Hope isn't something we're wishing for...maybe it'll come, maybe it won't.  No.  Hope is something we're certain of.  God is our deliverer.  He has and will continue to deliver in some way, shape, or form.  Let's not misunderstand and think He won't.  He's given us Christ.  Our all.  As Matthew 7 says, "how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"  Be expectant.  Wait on the Lord.  Don't just say you are--let our lives be lives where we expect God to move and be glorified.  Being joyful in the hope we have and being lost in praising Him.

In our waiting, in our deliverance, in our wholeness, be glorified, Lord.