Listen

So Abraham hurried to Sarah at his tent and said, “Hurry! Knead three seahs of the finest flour and make some baked goods!” Abraham ran to the cattle, took a healthy young calf, and gave it to a young servant, who prepared it quickly. Then Abraham took butter, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, put the food in front of them, and stood under the tree near them as they ate.

They said to him, “Where’s your wife Sarah?”

And he said, “Right here in the tent.”

Then one of the men said, “I will definitely return to you about this time next year. Then your wife Sarah will have a son!”

Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

Genesis 18:6-10

Think

“Hurry up and wait.” Have you ever had that feeling? You want to know the answer to some pressing question, but you cannot know until some future date. Or maybe you were giddy about a new semester, a school trip, or a birthday party. In these cases, there is nothing you can do to make the event arrive any sooner. So you do what you can: “hurry up and wait.”

But sometimes the thing we are waiting for is not guaranteed. Sometimes we wait and hope without knowing if our wish will come true. We hope. We pray. We may even beg for our heart’s deep longing. And we wait.

Some things in life we cannot control. Sometimes we wait. And in our waiting, we have the gift of time to focus on what we can control. We can still follow the way of Jesus. We can be neighborly. We can serve. We are not powerless. As we wait, we can make a difference.

Scott Ford

Question to Ponder

What are you waiting for, and what can you do while you are waiting?

Pray

Loving God of all creation, thank you for the gift of time to serve you and love my neighbors.

Help me, please, to embrace the opportunities you give me to serve and love others in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Go

Go.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Love all of your neighbors.

Love all of yourself.