don't eat the marshmallow

lately, i've been praying a lot for patience.  not specific to patience with my kiddos, or with myself, or with people even in general.  not with situations, not with issues.  but with jesus.  the song, "hungry" by joy williams has been my battle cry and prayer:

hungry

i come to you

for i know You satisfy.

i am empty

but i know

that Your love does not run dry.

so i'll wait

for You.

I will wait,

for You.

I'm falling on my knees,

offering all of me

Jesus, You're all this heart is living for.

there is something about this song that knocks me to my knees, literally; but in an expectant obedience rather than a painful, sacrificial waiting.

nearing 27, i would be lying if i said the thought that i am still single never crosses my mind in a world where people around me are getting engaged or changing their last names as quick and often as i change my facebook status (just a slight hyperbole on that one, but just hang with me for a few!).  sometimes, i find myself daydreaming what that world would even look like in my life.

this prayer or that song is hardly limited to my thoughts on dating and marriage.  that is just a small facet of where i am praying for patience.  with paying off my student debt, with feeling like i am fulfilling everything the Lord has called me into, with being prepared to go where He says go; i must wait.  and i must not lose sight that He truly is all my heart is living for.

this song reminds me that this journey is all about bringing Him glory through my passions and callings.  in heaven, (at least it is my assumption) that we will no longer have struggles in which we must be sure we rise to the occasion and bring glory to His name in the midst of our waiting.  the time and opportunity we have to point people to Jesus is limited to this very temporal moment on earth.  i am hungry for more opportunity to serve Him and spread His glory, and I often forget to do that in the very midst of where He has placed me to serve.

crying out and waiting for God also means not filling God-shaped voids with worldly things.  not trying to replace our hunger for Him and our need of His love with the love, acceptance, approval or even the encouragement of others.  it is about waiting until Jesus alone can fill those gaps, cleanse those wounds, and overflow our cup.

decades ago, a genius of a man began a study about our mental state of delayed gratification.  he placed four-year-olds in front of a marshmallow and left the room for 15 minutes.  he told them they could either eat the marshmallow then, or, if they chose to wait, they could have two marshmallows when he returned.  although this test could truly go a million different ways in this blog post, i will keep it simple, and just make the noted relationship that as we wait for Jesus, we get the better end of the bargain.  we get the two-marshmallows here.  sure, we have to wait.  and the temptation of that marshmallow right in front of us, that we could very well have, might be awfully strong.  but waiting for jesus and exactly what He has for us is ultimately a better deal, hands down.


friends, don't settle for just one marshmallow, when our Father in heaven wants to give you a bountiful blessing of His own design for you.  maybe you don't even like marshmallows, but the sugar seems awfully tempting.  wait for those chocolate chip cookies He is baking for you!  hold out, wait for full satisfaction in Jesus, rather than a cheap, convenient substitute.  in jobs, in relationships, in passions.  God didn't create you for mediocracy; and He certainly didn't create mediocre things for you!