The Waiting Room

This past Sunday marked the official end of football season with the playing of the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, but I am an incurable sports fan, so strange as it may seem, I still have football on my mind. It's even more strange when you consider the fact that I am also a Browns fan.

One of my favorite football images is taken from the film, "Rudy." It is the story of a short, slow kid from Joliet, Illinois, who always dreamed of playing football for the University of Notre Dame. From the day he was born, Dan "Rudy" Ruettiger was literally obsessed with the Fighting Irish. He followed the team religiously, watching every game, memorizing the stats for every major player. His whole life was devoted to this one great passion, being prepared for that day when he would get his shot to take the field for the green and gold in South Bend. He prayed, he practiced, he studied, he stayed ready and alert, watching and waiting for his big moment. Finally, in the last seconds of the last game in his last year at Notre Dame, the moment came. Rudy made the most of it, sacking the Georgia Tech quarterback on the last play of the game. The rest of the team carried him off the field on their shoulders.

Like Rudy, all of us are waiting for something. Some of us are waiting for the return of football season, some of us are waiting for the first signs of spring, some of us are waiting to graduate, some of us are waiting for our next paycheck, some of us are waiting to find a marriage partner, some of us are waiting for a new baby to arrive, some of us are waiting to see where the Lord is going to lead us next as we follow His call to ministry.

What are you waiting for? More importantly, how are you waiting?

"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).