In The Meantime

The morning after Christmas I was sitting in my living room drinking my coffee, watching the sun rise as my husband and children slept.  I thought about the miracle that we celebrated the day before, the miracle of Christ's birth.  As I watched the sun rise, I imagined Mary the day after Christ's birth.  I imagined her tired and her body sore, lying on a mat on a dirt floor in a stable for animals.  I imagined the baby Jesus crying from hunger and Mary trying to breastfeed Him.  I imagined the searing pain of a baby latching onto a sore nipple.  I imagined the frustration of trying to learn how to breastfeed, to get into the right position, all while a baby is screaming with hunger.  I imagined Joseph, frustrated and full of angst because he desired for his beloved to be in more comfortable conditions.  I imagined what it must have been like for him to look upon the baby that came from his wife, knowing with certainty that it didn't come from him, and choosing to believe in faith that it came from God.

What happens after a miracle?  The next day.

The next day happens.

And then the day after that.

Scripture gives us highlights of glory, but between those glories, between those paragraphs and pages, between Abraham's commission and Isaac's birth, life went on.  Between Jacob's ladder and Judah's reign, the daily grind continued.  We tend to get caught up in the highlights of the narrative and forget about the next day.  God works miracles and gives mankind staggering commissions, but in the meantime, those things are worked out in the mundane.  When God calls us to service, the call might be profound in the long-run, but that call is worked out day by day in the menial and obscure.  Mary gave birth to the Savior of Creation itself, the most glorious task ever given to a human being outside of Christ, but most of her time on this earth was spent doing daily human tasks.  For her-- "noble service" was worked out among "necessary task".  She breastfed her baby and changed His diapers.  She cooked meals for her family and she laundered clothing.  She was a wife to her husband and a mother to her children.  Scripture records the "Magnificat" at Luke Chapter 1:46-55, but is silent on the "meantime".

All ministry to the Lord is this way.  God places a call on our life and that call is worked out little by little, day by day.  We may have the occasional meeting with Him on the mountaintop, but most of our time is spent navigating the rocks on the way up and down.  Tedious, strenuous, methodical.  Times which we will become frustrated and tired.  Times which we may stumble and skin our knee.  Times which we may become discouraged and overwhelmed with the size of the mountain.  And even times which we may become disillusioned with the mountain and try to find a way off.

All too often I have become frustrated when I don't "feel" like I'm doing much for God.  When my service to Him looks like vacuuming the church sanctuary, updating the church registry, working someone's shift in the nursery or picking up the church mail.  We so easily get addicted to emotional highs or powerful moments, that is why ministries which focus on such are so dangerous.  Yes, God can and will reveal Himself to us on the mountaintop in powerful, spectacular ways, but more often than not, there is the mountainside of "in the meantime".  "In the meantime" is where God really does His greatest work in us.  It is where He teaches us patience, perseverance, compassion, understanding, persistence.  "In the meantime" is where God refines our character and burns away the dross. 

Do not get discouraged when you find yourself "in the meantime".  Surrender to God's work in you to create a steadfast spirit.  For it is the steadfast spirit which has the strongest foundation.  The steadfast spirit is well-equipped to weather the storm.  The steadfast spirit digs in deep and is in for the long-haul, regardless of the circumstances.  The steadfast spirit cannot be tempted away by the wiles of the enemy, nor driven away by his fiery darts.  The steadfast spirit follows hard after the Lord, full of the confidence of His presence no matter how much darkness surrounds.  The steadfast spirit has not built its house on the sand of emotional highs or the fleshly appeal of power, but on the steady rock of "in the meantime".

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain within me a willing spirit." (Ps 51:10-12)

"I gave my back to those who strike me and my cheek to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting. For the Lord God helps me, therefore I am not disgraced; Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed." (Isaiah 50:6,7)

"On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night. For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy. My soul follows hard after You; Your right hand upholds me." (Psalm 63:6-8)

"Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; and character produces hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us." (Rom 5:3-5)