Ready, Willing, and Waiting

Thoughts from my reading in Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul David Tripp. My thoughts are in red.

. . . and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalm 51:12

Lord,
I think I can honestly say
I am ready, willing, and waiting.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to see my sin as You see it.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to acknowledge that I am my biggest problem.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to run from wrong.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to seek Your help.
Ready, willing and waiting
for my mind to be clear.
Ready, willing, and waiting
for my heart to be clean.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to acknowledge what You see.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to rest in Your compassion.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to hide in Your unfailing love.

I am ready “to acknowledge that I am my biggest problem”. That in itself would be a major realization. I want to blame someone else for my problems and for my anger. “What you did made me angry” is a regular excuse but the truth is that someone else may have done something but my anger comes from within.

I am ready, willing, and waiting
to be washed by You.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to admit that I acted against You.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to prove that You are right and just.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to confess that my problem is from birth.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to examine within.

God is always ready but we are not. It’s nice to be in the place where we agree with Him with what is going on in our lives. That admission and confession prepares us for cleansing.

I am ready, willing, and waiting
to be whiter than snow.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to hear joy and gladness.
Ready, willing, and waiting
for brokenness to give way to joy.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to have a steadfast heart.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to celebrate Your grace once more.

It’s amazing that God takes us with our grit and grime and makes us clean like a new snow. And not just clean but joyfully clean.

I am ready, willing, and waiting
to teach others Your ways.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to help them turn back to You.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to have You save me from me.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to sing songs of Your righteousness.
I am ready, willing, and waiting
to declare Your praise.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to bring the sacrifice of a broken heart.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to see Your people prosper.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to see You worshiped as is Your due.

In our cleanness we are able to rejoice, to sing to praise and to show through our life the wonder of forgiveness and restoration.

But, I am also
Ready, willing, and waiting
to be protected by Your love.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to be held by Your grace.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to be hidden in Your mercy.
Ready, willing, and waiting
to be defended by Your power.
Because I know
that I won't always be
ready, willing, and waiting.

We do live a circular life. There are days when our thoughts are focused on God and days when we coast on our own power. There are days when we walk with God and days when He carries us.

A question from the meditation:

If someone watched a DVD of your last six weeks, would they conclude that you are a person who is ready, willing, and waiting to have God do exactly what he has promised to do in, with, and through you?

It depends on the day. I know that no good thing dwells in me. It’s only as I abide in Jesus that good comes out of my life. I wish I let Him live through me all the time but I don’t. What I am without Him rises to the surface and causes all kinds of problems.

Philip

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