Waiting on God

During these unsettled times of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may find yourself waiting on God to act, to bring deliverance. Waiting is hard. HST’s admissions director Matt Carter shares his thoughts on waiting. The lesson is adapted from one Dr. Carter shared via Zoom at Cordova Community Church and was influenced by a recent sermon by Jimmy Stokes of the Northeast Side Church of Christ in Bartlett, TN. Key take-aways:

• Adele Calhoun: Spiritual Disciplines Handbook (Amazon affiliate link) – these are the disciplines Matt talks about:
• Slowing is a way to combat the hurried, anti-waiting pace of life in our culture. Deliberately slow down and leave room to connect with God.
• Submission is yielding to the Lordship of Jesus. Submission is how we, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, let God’s kingdom come and his will be done in our choices, relationships, entertainment choices, and work.
• Humility is waiting because I’m not the center of the universe. Sometimes waiting is hard because I think I’m pretty important. Sometimes “Why me?” really means “Why not someone else.”
• Contemplation is learning while waiting. Contemplation is taking time to reflect on the experiences of life, asking where God is in each situation, what lessons there are to learn from it.
• Andrew Murray (1828-1917): Waiting on God , p.21:
  

  If any are discouraged, because they do not have patience, let them be encouraged; it is in the course of our feeble and very imperfect waiting that God Himself by His hidden power strengthens us and works out in us the patience of the saints, the patience of Christ Himself.

Dr. Matt Carter served as Director of Admissions at HST for many years. Previously, he spent many years in campus ministry and church planting before coming to the school. Matt’s current research focuses on the area of spiritual gifts and how churches can help Christians find their fit in the congregation. See the One Body Workshop website for more information.

Harding School of Theology, a graduate school of theology (seminary), has provided ministry training in Memphis, TN since 1958. Accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, and offering degree programs at the master’s and doctoral levels, HST equips Christian leaders to higher standards of ministry scholarship and challenges them to a deeper faith in God. Combining academic rigor and interpersonal connections, HST emphasizes student engagement in ministry as they study. HST is associated with Churches of Christ, is part of the Stone-Campbell Movement, and is part of Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.