Don't You Give Up On Me: Waiting for God Through Time & Space

In the 2014 movie Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey is a father who must leave his children behind on earth while he ascends to the Heavenlies to go ahead and prepare a place for them. Earth has become uninhabitable, and time is short. He promises his kids he will return for them. But, when 20+ years pass and he still hasn't returned, and circumstances have only grown worse, his daughter, played by Jessica Chastain, becomes very bitter towards her dad for not coming back to save her, her brother and his family.

He didn't return because he got caught in a time warp. One minute to him was several years on earth. He never stopped loving his children, or trying to save them. He fought ferociously to get messages to them. His daughter was angry, though. Her fury boiled over as she meditated on how abandoned she felt. Had he really just left her here to die a miserable death? Had he really broken his promise?

It took his daughter over twenty years to figure out the cryptic messages he was sending her. Again, time was passing on earth so slow for her, but for him it was but a second. He sent her a formula that would save her life if she would but figure it out and use it to save the lives of the remaining humans on earth.

Thankfully, she eventually had a revelation and saw his messages coming through. She used the formula to build a space station, and as she died she was reunited with her father who had made it to the space station somehow. Although, by this time, she was ninety years old and he was still as young and gorgeous as when he departed earth.

Recently I read one of those Christian prophecies about "this is going to be the Christmas your whole life changes!" kind of prophecies put out by a well known ministry. I'm a huge fan of prophecy. I believe when we speak positivity, speak life into our future, it has a better chance of coming to pass. I believe when we line our will up with God's and speak that intention verbally, we propel ourselves into a better future. Prophecy is the wind the angels wings fly upon. Our spoken words carry so much power. It's why prayers are answered. Our words are the mandates by which angels launch into action on our behalf. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue," Proverbs says.

Having said that, seeing that prophecy online recently sparked a thought in me. What do we tell the people who have been waiting for 30+ years for their breakthrough, their rescue, their prayers? What do we tell the single person who longs for a family, but who has just celebrated her twentieth Christmas in a row alone? What do we say to those innocents, who are like Joseph, cast off and forgotten in a prison? What do we say to the Jobs who have lost their dreams beyond the point of retrieval? What do we say to the missionaries who are so fervently hated they are murdered by the very people God sent the to love and save?

I believe the church must balance both prophecy, and how to stay out of the trap of false hope. False hope leads to disappointment, disillusionment and self-pity. And, for any of us who have been in ministry for more than five minutes, we know self-pity is the most dangerous of all emotions. It opens doors to depression, sin and death like nothing else. It eats the soul alive, with no pity for its victim. It dries up the bones, and even science has proven it can cause cancer and other auto-immune diseases.

If self-pity wasn't bad enough, the prosperity gospel preachers are teaching to dream big and reach for the stars. To believe this is going to be your year. But, what if it's not your year to live out all your dreams? What if it's your year to have your heart broken, learn some valuable lessons or grow your character?

False hope is an epidemic in the American church today.

What if your year isn't going to happen for another 25 years? What if like Jessica Chastain's character, you're not going to see the fulness of your success, or your sweet Father's face, until you're ninety years old?

Let's be real. That's a legitimate possibility. Shouldn't we also be teaching our younger Christians, especially, how to wait through those seasons ... of feeling forgotten and lost ... well? I don't recall ever being taught how to wait well as we wait on the answer to our prayers when I was younger. I just kept being told "this is going to be your year, Casey!"

When I'm waiting for things to get better, and it truly feels like they're never going to get better... when my hope is hanging on by a thread, I remember my Daddy God loved me so much He sent his only, precious Son to die a hideous death on a cross for me. He laid down His life for me. He didn't promise me an easy life. He promised He'd go and prepare a better place for me, and then come back for me. Just like Matthew McConaughey's character in that movie.

I wish I could say I've waited well in the past. Now, I want to be found waiting well when He comes for me...even if I am ninety years old when it finally happens. I want to have been productive with the life I've been given. I never want to forget His love for me, or stop searching for the answers He sends me everyday through His Word, the Bible, the precious people He puts in my path, or the puzzle pieces I see strewn about each day.

Per Aspera Ad Astra = Through Adversity To The Stars

I have this piece of black & white art from this film up in my office to remind me daily that God's timing, His breakthroughs, His miracles and answered prayers ... may not happen on my time table. But, that doesn't mean He doesn't see me, hear me, or love me. He's already proven His love. Now, it's up to me to take what messages He's sent me and make the most of them.