(in the meantime)

Hillsong United just released an album titled, “(in the meantime)”. It’s a mix of some unreleased songs along with some different versions of already released songs. I love it. The title, however, inspired me to write. Something about the phrase, “in the meantime” made me think. When I hear, “in the meantime”, I think of a waiting period. I think of a gap between what was, and what is to come. Far too often in my life, I overlook the ‘meantimes’ that are put in my life. I view the gaps as though they just happen to be there. After considering the meantimes, I’ve come to realize that maybe God’s specifically placed the meantimes in my life for a reason.

Back in the spring when the ‘quarantining’ started, I remember viewing the time that was to come as a meantime. I kind of just figured it would be a short period of time where we all take a break from the normal life, awaiting a time when we come back to “reality”. Oh boy was I wrong. We are now three months away from 2021. How crazy is that? It’s almost a little scary to think about how much longer COVID-19 could still be an issue. But as I’m thinking, I’m wondering: maybe the point of this break in life, this new “normal”, this pandemic, is just meant to catch our attentions and remind us of the value in the meantimes. Maybe God’s plans for the meantimes is just as valuable as the passed time as well as the time to come. After all, isn’t this time here on earth just a really long meantime? I’d argue for that. We’re awaiting the return of our Jewish King, which means we’re all in a waiting season. Romans 5:3-4 states, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (ESV). Paul is trying to remind believers that in the waiting (meantime), we ought to rejoice in that waiting. We ought to be thankful for the slow seasons of life. Without the lows of life, we have no highs; therefore, we need the lows in order to have the highs. It’s in those lows that God will use our suffering to mature us in our endurance as Jesus followers. As Believers who have endured much only gives us more of a reason to have the one hope we need. Because we have been through such suffering in the meantimes of life, we’ve seen God work. And because we’ve seen God work so much, we have no reason not to keep our hope in Him. So what I’m getting at here is this: I believe that God uses the meantime’s in order to remind us of the hope we have in what Jesus has already accomplished for us. What a freaking awesome Saviour we have! A lot of times we struggle in the suffering. The first thing we want to do is scream at God and ask Him why He is doing what He is doing, or ask Him why He is so confusing for us to understand. I know this because I’ve felt this. I know this because I’ve had people vent to me about how they feel this way. The first thing I learned was that God isn’t the one making things confusing. We have all that we need for this life. God has already equipped us for this life, and any suffering we could ever endure. Therefore, we have no right to question God. Romans 9:19-21 state, “You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” These verses clearly lay out the base here. We are His creation. We have no right whatsoever to question Him. It’s not our job, and it’s not respectful of us as His chosen ones to do so. After all—He is God. I don’t think we need to worry about Him making any mistakes or not knowing what He’s doing. Then in verses 22-23, Paul writes, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—“. In these verses, Paul brings up the fact that if God wanted to use some of His “vessels” (creation) under destruction in order to glorify Himself, then He could do that. It’s hard for us humans to view our lives like that. It’s hard to think of life as something we have no control over, when in reality, we really don’t. Proverbs 16:9 states, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” This verse is a reminder that we can plan and detail out as much as we want for our lives, but ultimately, God’s will is going to see us through. Where God wants us, He will bring us. This is why I think one of the best things a Believer can do is simply just be available. I think having the faith to say, “God, use me wherever and with whatever it is You want me for” is such an underrated quality of obedience and character. This we know that God uses us (in the meantime). Even when we don’t understand what things look like now and what they will look like, we ought to remember that the meantime is producing that hope that we must have in Christ alone.

-Jack Hilsher