2 Corinthians 6:1-10. Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to persevere and to not accept God's grace in vain. He reminds them that God has promised to listen "at the acceptable time," and to help us on the day of salvation. Behold, Paul says, now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation! Paul goes on to tell them that Christians are not to put any obstacle in another's way, but always to commend ourselves to God in every way, through all hardships, with great endurance, relying on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, on truthful speech, and on the power of God "with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left." When we always commend ourselves to God, we may be treated or thought of as imposters, but we are in fact true; as sorrowful, but we are in fact filled with joy; as poor, but we make others so rich; as dying, yet we live; as having nothing, but in fact we have everything.

This reading is clearly God following up on my lament yesterday about how the waiting is so difficult for me right now! Paul is reminding me that the wait is over! Yesterday, Micah waited, in seeming sorrow, for the Lord to answer him. Like Paul, Micah's friends and family see Micah as a sorrowful, destitute, suffering man, yet Micah, in his faith, is waiting patiently for the Lord, he knows that the Lord will answer him. Paul reminds us here that God promised, in the Old Testament, that he would answer Micah and all of humanity at the acceptable time. Paul goes on to point out that God has answered us - at the acceptable time he has listened, and he has sent his son, our salvation! So we are now blessed with these gifts of the Holy Spirit and with the weapons of righteousness, and we are to go out with them, as Paul has, and make others rich. We are to spread the Word!

This is it! Jesus is what we had and have all been waiting for, and he is here, now, everywhere, for all of us - we only need accept him and then we will be true, living, rejoicing, rich, and possessing of everything. It does not matter one bit what others or the world think of us, we know that we have the truth and salvation. We know we are blessed and rich beyond measure. This knowledge brings an innate joy and happiness that none of the sufferings of this world can take from us. The joy is so great that all we want to do is share it!

I needed this reminder today that my wait is over, it has always been over. I just have to look at everything, all my hardships, sufferings and sorrows, through the lens of Christ, and then the gifts of the Holy Spirit will change my entire outlook. It is transcendence - rising above the things of this world and looking back down on them to see them in their proper place. Now is indeed a very acceptable time, and this is the best feeling in the world!