Anticipation...
Recently, I ordered an iPAQ from costco.com, after weeks of researching PDAs and finding one that had all the features/tools I was looking for at the right price. Costco.com has a feature that allows you to check your order/shipping status as often as you like. Well, I've been checking my order status at least twice a day, hoping that there would be a shipping miracle and I would get my iPAQ earlier than expected. But every time I checked, the status remained the same: "Delivery date: July 7".
Now, yesterday was July 7 and like a little kid I was excited when I awoke because I knew that my new toy (I mean, tool:)) would soon be in my hands.
The only problem is that the UPS delivery in our area seems sporadic and you never know when they're going to show up. I needed to sign for the package, so I had to be around. That being said, I didn't trust that the delivery man wouldn't just set the box out to be rained on or stolen.
So, after a ministry mentoring meeting in the morning, I came home to read, write, etc., in a place where I could see when the UPS truck pulled up. I even made conscious decisions not to run some errands so I would be available.
I waited all day, and even though I was busy with other things, my eyes kept going back to the windows and my ears kept listening for the sound of the delivery man opening our gate. I was really excited and I wasn't about to go somewhere or do something that might keep me from getting my package.
Around 4 o'clock, after checking the order status 27 times, I was getting a bit perturbed at UPS. I mean, don't they have any consideration for my time? Didn't they know I had to leave by 5:30 for our softball game? Do they even deliver packages after 5?
5 o'clock rolled around, then 5:30 and I had to leave for the softball game. I even waited in my car, looking down the street for that brown truck, but nothing! Just in case the delivery man came to the house, I left a plastic sack by our mailbox in which he could put the package, especially since we were expecting a downpour.
Well, we got a downpour and played softball through the storm at the base of the Washington monument - amazing venue!!!!
The whole ride home I was thinking about...yep, that stupid iPAQ, and it was all I could do not to run to our mailbox. Instead of finding a box, though, I found an "InfoNotice" left by UPS informing me that I missed the delivery!!! I was ticked. I mean, I had done everything I could to be there when they came, but I missed them and would have to wait another day, going through the same anticipation.
As I was trying to get to sleep last night, I thought of how earnest and prepared I was, and all for an electronic device. A question leaped into my consciousness: "Are you anticipating My coming?" My quick reply was an honest, "No." In fact, I don't remember the last time I thought about the fact that this earth is temporal, that these bodies are temporal, that all I see is temporal. Another question interrupted my thoughts, "Are you ready to meet me?" Again, my answer was an honest, "No."
I have spent the hours since that brief conversation thinking about what I have invested in that has drawn me away from my Lord. Why am I anticipating the wrong things? I have some answers, not all of them, but enough to get started: 1) I haven't been spending time communing with Christ; 2) I have not been spending time praying; 3) I haven't been reading the scriptures. In general, I have been very undisciplined spiritually, and I am seeing the effects in my spiritual life, which is interconnected with the holistic me, whether or not I like that fact.
I want to anticipate the Lord like I anticipate getting my iPAQ. I don't. Not yet, at least. Such anticipation doesn't come from trying to manufacture feelings, but from doing the things that lead to such feelings: spiritual disciplines. My excitement for my iPAQ increased greatly as I researched the field and found just the right one. I want to research God with the earnestness that I research other things in this life.
And I want to be ready when He comes. I want to have the light on and I want to be awake, full of anticipation!!
Now, yesterday was July 7 and like a little kid I was excited when I awoke because I knew that my new toy (I mean, tool:)) would soon be in my hands.
The only problem is that the UPS delivery in our area seems sporadic and you never know when they're going to show up. I needed to sign for the package, so I had to be around. That being said, I didn't trust that the delivery man wouldn't just set the box out to be rained on or stolen.
So, after a ministry mentoring meeting in the morning, I came home to read, write, etc., in a place where I could see when the UPS truck pulled up. I even made conscious decisions not to run some errands so I would be available.
I waited all day, and even though I was busy with other things, my eyes kept going back to the windows and my ears kept listening for the sound of the delivery man opening our gate. I was really excited and I wasn't about to go somewhere or do something that might keep me from getting my package.
Around 4 o'clock, after checking the order status 27 times, I was getting a bit perturbed at UPS. I mean, don't they have any consideration for my time? Didn't they know I had to leave by 5:30 for our softball game? Do they even deliver packages after 5?
5 o'clock rolled around, then 5:30 and I had to leave for the softball game. I even waited in my car, looking down the street for that brown truck, but nothing! Just in case the delivery man came to the house, I left a plastic sack by our mailbox in which he could put the package, especially since we were expecting a downpour.
Well, we got a downpour and played softball through the storm at the base of the Washington monument - amazing venue!!!!
The whole ride home I was thinking about...yep, that stupid iPAQ, and it was all I could do not to run to our mailbox. Instead of finding a box, though, I found an "InfoNotice" left by UPS informing me that I missed the delivery!!! I was ticked. I mean, I had done everything I could to be there when they came, but I missed them and would have to wait another day, going through the same anticipation.
As I was trying to get to sleep last night, I thought of how earnest and prepared I was, and all for an electronic device. A question leaped into my consciousness: "Are you anticipating My coming?" My quick reply was an honest, "No." In fact, I don't remember the last time I thought about the fact that this earth is temporal, that these bodies are temporal, that all I see is temporal. Another question interrupted my thoughts, "Are you ready to meet me?" Again, my answer was an honest, "No."
I have spent the hours since that brief conversation thinking about what I have invested in that has drawn me away from my Lord. Why am I anticipating the wrong things? I have some answers, not all of them, but enough to get started: 1) I haven't been spending time communing with Christ; 2) I have not been spending time praying; 3) I haven't been reading the scriptures. In general, I have been very undisciplined spiritually, and I am seeing the effects in my spiritual life, which is interconnected with the holistic me, whether or not I like that fact.
I want to anticipate the Lord like I anticipate getting my iPAQ. I don't. Not yet, at least. Such anticipation doesn't come from trying to manufacture feelings, but from doing the things that lead to such feelings: spiritual disciplines. My excitement for my iPAQ increased greatly as I researched the field and found just the right one. I want to research God with the earnestness that I research other things in this life.
And I want to be ready when He comes. I want to have the light on and I want to be awake, full of anticipation!!
posted by Dave Jones at 10:36 AM
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