Journal: Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry
Volume: JDFM 02:2 (Spring 2012)
Article: Equipping the Generations: The Inward War of Waiting
Author: Kimberly Campbell

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JFM 2:2 (Spring/Summer 2012) p. 76

Equipping the Generations:
The Inward War of Waiting

Kimberly Campbell

Kimberly Campbell (M.Div., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a curriculum writer for Treasuring Christ. She is married to Eric, and she enjoys writing, reading, speaking, running, cooking, traveling, and taking photographs. Kim blogs at http://www.kd316.com.

There is a war constantly raging inside us. Paul shares this truth with the believers in Rome,1 and I share the same truth with you, from my experience of being a new wife living in the waiting period before motherhood. The two opponents in this war are anxiety and rest. Both of them contended within me even before I got married. I remember from the time I was a teenager pondering over the questions: Will I find “Mr. Right”? What will my dress look like ? Where will I go on my honeymoon?

Once I did get married, long after I started asking these questions, similar questions continued to persist: Will we have children? When will we have children? Is our house or my husband’s salary big enough to sustain our lifestyle with children? What if we have trouble conceiving ? Will we be infertile ?

One might think these questions would stop as I prepare to enter motherhood but they do not: Will I carry my baby to term? Will the baby be healthy? What are we going to name the baby? Will he or she ever come to know Christ? These questions constantly repeat themselves.

God, however, has provided the answer to all these questions: rest. The importance of rest is taught throughout Scripture, starting in Genesis when God rested after completing his creation work (2:.1-3). The psalmist says to be still and know that he is God (Ps 46:10a). Our rest is rooted in God’s care for us and his sovereign control over our lives. The command—”do not fear”—occurs frequently in the Bible (e.g., Gen 15:1; Num 14:9; Deut 1:21; Mat 10:31; 1 Pet 3:14; Rev 2:10). Paul exhorts the Philippian believers to rest in the peace of Christ and not be anxious about anything (Phil 4:6). The circumstances we find ourselves in do not need to control us. God has bought rest and comfort for us by sending his Son Jesus to pay our full penalty. If he died and rose again, then he also can take care of every situation we face on any given day. We rest by letting God be in control. The following are a f...

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