“Look, the whole lot of us are done with waiting room theology. We are done waiting for some elusive future moment to say life is good enough. . . . some big, exciting enough experience to finally think we’ve arrived at the abundance of being and living enough.”- Ann Voskamp
Ann Voskamp continues Chapter 6 of The Broken Way with an astute observation. Rather than waiting for good things to happen to us, Ann wonders if we (emphasis mine) could be the good thing to happen to someone else who’s waiting. In other words, what if abundant living consists of what life expects from you, not what you expect from life?
Therefore, listen to what life needs in our brokenhearted and suffering world. As a result, fill the world’s brokenness with your own brokenhearted love. This giving, in turn, fills you. Spending your life striving to be more leads you down a path to actually end up with less.
Consequently, grow a list of what you want to give, not what you desire to accumulate. Ann exhorts you to let your heart grow big with a large love. In the process, that large love breaks your heart and gives bits of you away. Real life truly feeds your soul when you choose to be bread to hungry people.
Doing so gives you the gift you’ve been hungering for yourself. In conclusion, Ann underscores:
“You are where you are for such a time as this — not to make an impression, but to make a difference. We aren’t here to one-up one another, but to help one another up.”
Today’s question: Following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, to what extent has waiting room theology factored in? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The givenness of sacrifice”
