Grateful for Waiting. Grateful for the Unseen.

I used to despise winter. Growing up, I came to dread the long series of gloomy, wet, and cold days that seem to wrap Christmas and overstay its welcome well into March and April. I am grateful that the type of winter I now see is sunnier than the ones I grew up with; but I have also come to truly treasure the change of seasons, enjoying each one for the unique beauty it holds and seeking the lessons it desires to teach me. 

We are in the middle of celebrating THANKSGIVING, so naturally, I was attracted to the idea of thinking and writing about gratefulness. During this season, we tend to make more "gratitude lists" than we normally do -words on a paper strung together to represent all our greatest blessings. We sit around a table and take turns to mention special people, places, and circumstances that brought us great joy throughout the year. One recent fad I observed this year was daily Facebook status after status about reasons a certain soul was grateful. Another habit I really liked was sharing over social media photo albums that held pictures of its designer's greatest motivators for thanks. 

While all of these habits are to be encouraged and should be practiced year-round, most all hold one element in common: they are about what we can immediately see. The seen and the immediate are usually what our minds most focus on, but it should not be so. As Christians, we should dwell beyond the here and now -and our gratefulness should reflect such an eternal purpose. 

How many of us are waiting for something?

I believe we ALL are, in some form or another.  I used to think that being in a state of waiting came and went at different times of our lives; now, I see it as a definition of our journey on this earth. Whether it's awaiting the end of a season of chastisement, looking for the fulfillment of a God-given dream, or yearning for freedom from pain and sickness, all of us are in a season of waiting. But when was the last time that we thanked God for the waiting? When was the last time that we thanked God for this perpetual season of life? We see waiting as a burden, a cross to carry, and a struggle. In many ways, waiting IS all of those! But, waiting is also the opportunity for a more consistent and stronger growth and for the revelation of His glory. Once we choose to trust God to reveal us the beauty of waiting and to fulfill His promises in His most perfect and glorious time, our hearts are filled with gratefulness for the unseen: the things to come and the resulting closer walk with Him. So this Thanksgiving, let us focus on the convictions He places in our hearts and the revelation of who He is through these; and let us embrace with joy and gratefulness our seasons of waiting and our coming fulfillment of His promises. "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (II Cor. 4:18). “But as it is written, ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him” (I Cor. 2:9).

"Strangely Dim"
by Francesca Battistelli (to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjmZ2v0niCI)

I've got all these plans piled up sky high
A thousand dreams on hold
And I don't know why,
I got a front row seat
To the longest wait
And I just can't see
Past the things I pray
Today

But when I fix my eyes on all that You are
Then every doubt I feel
Deep in my heart
Grows strangely dim
All my worries fade
And fall to the ground
Cause when I seek Your face
And don't look around
Any place I'm in
Grows strangely dim

Sometimes where I stand
On this narrow road
Is in a raging storm
Or a valley low
But oh

When I fix my eyes on all that You are
Then every doubt I feel
Deep in my heart
Grows strangely dim
All my worries fade
And fall to the ground
Cause when I seek Your face
And don't look around
Any place I'm in
Grows strangely dim

I don't know, I don't know
What tomorrow may hold
But I know, but I know
That You're holding it all
So no matter what may come

I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that You are
'Til every doubt I feel
Deep in my heart
Grows strangely dim
Let all my worries fade
And fall to the ground
I'm gonna seek Your face
And not look around
Til the place I'm in
Grows strangely, strangely, strangely dim.