Eagerly Waiting Ed

Ed, great brownie loving dog.

by Josh Brown

Growing up, my family had a chihuahua rat terroir dog named Ed (named after the hyena in the Lion King film). This dog had an addiction that began accidentally. One day when Ed was a pup she got a piece of a brownie and quickly became hooked. From then on, Ed would do whatever it took to get a piece of brownie--even a crumb. This addiction was evident especially when brownies were baking. Ed would sit in front of the oven, whimpering, shivering, drooling, and waiting for these to finish baking--in hopes of a bite. 

Ed came to mind recently while in a discussion on Romans 8:18-25. My friend, Brad Stout, pointed out the significance of the phrase, "eagerly waiting" within the passage. This phrase comes from the Greek word απέκδεχομια which carries the idea of leaning forward, or being on the edge of your seat. The apostle Paul uses this word seven times in the New Testament and of those seven times three are used in this passage. 

Here, Paul is really stressing the idea of eagerly waiting. This generates the question, "What are we eagerly waiting for?" Believers and creation are eagerly waiting for God's redemption. This means we are waiting for God to make everything right. This looks like Rev 21:3-5:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

As believers this is our hope. The Apostle Paul's challenge for believers is that we will hope for God's redemptive plan with the same eagerness that my dog Ed hoped for brownies. (I know it's an odd parallel.) 

As Jenn and I embark on our latest faith adventure, the theme of "eagerly waiting" surrounds us. We are eager to meet new friends, to see our new residence, to get involved in new ministries and to dive into life in Nevada. These thoughts are forefront and quickly become the central focus. In the midst of this, I am reminded of how much more Christ's redemptive plan needs to be forefront. Another passage comes to mind.

Lamentations 3:22-24
The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”

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