Better to Come

I recently started reading a book called, Hold On: The Rewards of Waiting for God's Timing by Debby Akerman. I found it among the bookshelves at home. It was a translated book, and the title in Korean was roughly translated closer to "waiting". I guess I was drawn to the book as I was more or less waiting for something to happen in my life. I was waiting for my military service to end. I was waiting to start my residency. I was waiting to find the love of my life. I was waiting for God's divine intervention. I was waiting to become the next doctor of the year.

I guess God had good reasons for me to have noticed the book for I often found comfort in reading it. More and more, I felt God was telling me to learn how to be patient: stories of Abraham waiting for his son Isaac, Joseph, for his way out of prison, Simeon, for the coming king, apostles, for the Spirit. The list can go on.

Even just this Sunday, the sermon was also on the topic of waiting.

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:24-25

The verse calls us to wait patiently. I often read the verse as it is, and waited hopefully for my circumstances to change, for my prayers to be answered. I still am holding onto this verse as the promise to my problems being solved, but there is a word that I had overlooked. The verse calls us to wait for "it." Looking at the verse in context, "it" refers to "our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies." The verse is talking specifically about salvation. It seems to surpass currently problems and issues. It seems to push this world far back in priority and highlights what is more important, the spirit over the body. 

On a more personal note, this verse came closer to heart for I was caught up in a bit of emotions this morning. I recently heard that an old friend of mine was expecting a child soon. She had been married for more than a year now, and she seemed so happy in all her life matters. It was not that I was sad to have let her go way back then, but I was sad that I still feel like I was floating around, wandering among people to people, living life a step slower than others. I was getting tired of still being alone, thinking about what could have been. I was getting frightened whether I could actually keep a relationship going. I was getting unhappy about my life. 

In my mind, I know the answer. I know that I am to be thankful for all the blessings. I know that I am to look beyond this world and find comfort in what is to come, but knowing and living has such a big gap. On a brighter note, the promise of better to come still leaves a lingering smile.