Waiting for Transformation

Welcome to yet another blog! Blogs are considered passe now in our Facebook/Twitter universe, but I hope this blog can be a real encouragement for all of us who are seeking the 'shalom' of our cities of Alhambra and Monterey Park by sharing our stories about what God is doing here in us, through us, and perhaps despite us! We at Kingdom Causes want to share and hear the stories of transformation in our communities, so here goes!

To start off, I've shared this story to some already, but it's worth repeating for the fact that it bears further reflection on our desire for transformation.

My first meeting with a Monterey Park pastor connected me to a group of pastors/ministers in the city who just started meeting. At their second meeting which I attended, the convening pastor shared how she had been praying for TEN years for this group to form, and only now has it borne any fruit. Another seasoned pastor mentioned that he had seen groups like this come and go, spark and fizzle in his twenty some years pastoring in the city. And not much really happened from any of those groups.

While it's still early to say that this time around is really going to stick (but I sense the Spirit in it), this made me think a lot about our desire for transformation as Christ followers: why does it seem like we always end up waiting on God?

I know there's a lot of good reasons why we end up waiting, theological and otherwise. I know we live in a fast-paced modern world where instant access is expected and available with the right phrasing on Google. I know I'm the kind of future oriented dreamer guy who doesn't like waiting to begin with. But after hearing those two pastors share, it made me realize that waiting for transformation creates a space for humility to root in us. Even if this pastors group becomes greatly used by the Lord for His glory in the city of Monterey Park, I can't shake the fact that seemingly nothing happened for at least 10-20 years before this year. And because I can't shake that fact off, it helps to keep me humble that God's been working in people and His city long before I showed up. We wait for transformation because we can't generate it in a vacuum or in isolation.
We wait for transformation because it creates dependence on God to lead the way.