Waiting...

Are you patient?  Do you like to wait?  I can honestly say that patience is not one of my virtues.  In fact, I am certain that my blood pressure is at its highest when I am in a line or when I have been asked to wait.  Pardon my disgust when one pipes in, "Good things come to those that wait!"  I want to body slam them. Then there is the time recently when I had a kidney stone.  The doctor was telling me to wait and allow the medicine to work.  No thank you.  Waiting is not for me. From slow drive-through's to checking out at Walmart to even sitting in the car on Sunday morning waiting on my family to go to church, I do not like waiting.  My theme song has become Brad Paisley's "Waitin' On a Woman" (since I do have a wife, 4 daughters, a dog and cat which both happen to be female).  I love my family, don't get me wrong, but, I despise waiting.  You can imagine then, what my life has been like over the last several months as I have been in a season of waiting.  It seems that lately I have been forced to wait in just about every area of my life.  Vocationally, I have had to wait on decisions to be made and personnel to be put in place.  Physically, I have had the aforementioned kidney stone and literally had to wait for relief.  I have also had some problems with my feet (again) that has prevented me from walking like I want to do. However,I have changed my diet and am supplementing a program of healthy shakes to give me energy, better circulation, and increased overall health.  Spiritually, I have practiced the disciplines of worship, prayer, Bible reading, and meditation.  I have participated in small groups studies and have even faithfully taught a Men's Bible study on a weekly basis.  Yet, in all of these areas, I do not see the results I long to have.  I have waited for things to be different, yet they seem to digress instead of getting better.  When does the waiting start to pay off?

Maybe you can identify with where I am.  Perhaps you have also been waiting.  Maybe you are in somewhat of a waiting wilderness.  A prodigal to come home.  A medical report to be good news.  A promotion that is overdue.  A sign from God that this is the right direction.  Whatever it is that you and I are waiting on, God's word reminds us in many verses that He is there in our midst and understands exactly where we are and what we are going through.

God's word also tells us that waiting is being obedient.  For example, Psalm 27:14 parallels waiting on the Lord with strength. "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD" (NIV).  Twice in one verse, God commands us to wait.  

Isaiah 40:31 in many translations indicates that waiting provides renewal, strength, flight, and endurance.

    "But those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, 

    they shall mount up with wings like eagles, 

    they shall run and not be weary, 

    they shall walk and not faint." (NRSV)

It does not take long for one to find hope in just these two verses.  Isn't that just the way God works?  In our despair and frustration, we are able to call out to Him and realize He is faithful and trustworthy.  We are reminded that "grass withers and flowers fade, but the word of God lasts forever."

In my season of waiting, I have learned a few things.  First I have learned through reflection, that I have fared better than perhaps I thought.  Those who are close to me have told me that I have shown great patience over the past few months.  I have been told that I have been a testimony to many.  Humbly I am compelled to do better.  Secondly, I am in a better place spiritually than I have been in a long time.  My prayers are more fervent than I can recently remember.  I have become more aware of God's presence in my prayers, my worship, my Bible reading and meditation.  I long to study the word of God more and have a hunger for it.  Thirdly, I am becoming more dependent on God and less dependent on myself.  For the first time in a long while, I am learning like Paul to be content in whatever state I am in, recognizing that God's faithfulness and mercy are with me and will not leave me nor forsake me.  A friend called me the other night simply to encourage me, pray with me, and remind me that God is always at work. The call was just at the right time. Think that was orchestrated by the One that knows every hair on my head, knows every thought that I have and the One that has created me as His masterpiece?  Yea...me too.  

My wilderness is becoming the promised land.

Be encouraged.  Waiting is a season.  Seasons change.  Maybe good things do come to those that wait.