Why we Wait
As I racked my brain for a topic for tonight’s FAM Chat, I was frustrated, because I was drawing a total blank. Usually we’ve had a prevailing topic of conversation through the week to draw from, but this week was mostly praise reports or some of the same issues we’ve recently discussed. So I even considered making it an evening for open discussion without a preset topic. And even though I wasn’t getting anything else, I immediately felt that wasn’t the way to go either. So I told the Lord that I was running out of time and REALLY needed some help here! So I prayed and prayed and then just waited to hear a reply…but NOTHING was coming! So I finally just said “Well, Lord, I’m waiting, but I’m not getting anything…” And that’s when I got it!
As I considered the frustration of waiting without seeing (or getting) anything, it came to me that while everyone is so excited to share in the awesome praise reports of so many of our members lately; it’s normal to wonder just how long it will be before “our turn” comes…why we’re still waiting for our own miracles, especially when nothing SEEMS to be happening. And as I thought about that, I remembered the following poem about waiting, which I’ve shared on the site previously, but which is ALWAYS worth taking another look at. So here it is:
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, ‘My Child, you must wait!’
‘Wait?’, you say, wait!’ my indignant reply.
‘Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH I have asked, and am claiming your Word.
‘My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to WAIT?
I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign.
‘And Lord, you promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry;
I’m weary of asking I need a reply!’
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, ‘You must wait.’
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, ‘So, I’m waiting…for what?’
He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, ‘I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want–but, you wouldn’t know ME.
‘You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint;
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint;
You’d not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there;
You’d not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
‘You’d never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You’d know that I give and I save…(for a start),
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of my heart.
‘The glow of my comfort late into the night.
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.
‘You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’
Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss! If I lost what I’m doing in you!
‘So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
THAT THE GREATEST OF GIFTS IS TO GET TO KNOW ME.
And though oft may my answers seem terribly late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT.’
–Author Unknown
As I reread this, which is one of my all time favorites, a few verses of scripture came to my mind, and they are what we MUST keep in mind as we wait on the Lord’s perfect time for HIS awesome plan for our lives to be perfected, and that He’s working on us during this time too. The first is Matthew 22:3738, which says Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. If we’re honest, most of us have to admit that we fall far short of that, especially if we’re putting the restoration of our marriages above seeking a personal and intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior. That is not good, because even though we don’t often hear about this aspect of God’s nature and character, Exodus 34:14 tells us Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. In fact, in last week’s chat, several members acknowledged having put their spouses and marriages as an idol above their relationship with God. And then there’s Psalm 37:4, which says Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. But as I thought about that one, I have to admit feeling an “ouch”, because the truth is that most of us don’t consistently delight in the Lord, even though we’re really good about delighting in Him WHEN we have something to praise and rejoice about…but that’s definitely putting the cart before the horse according to what this says. We are to FIRST delight in the Lord, and THEN He will give us the desire of our hearts…and not the other way around. And of course, that goes right along with Matthew 6:33, which says But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. And we have to believe in and fully expect to be rewarded and blessed according to God’s compassion and justice as we wait, because Isaiah 30:18 says Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! And then I thought of Romans 8:28 (NASB), which says And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. When we really believe that, we’ll KNOW there IS a God glorifying reason for the delay in the restoration of our marriages and that God is working EVERYTHING out for our good because we love Him and we are living our lives in accordance to His will as revealed in the Bible….He hates divorce! So we just have to put our hope in the Lord, because Isaiah 40:31 promises but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. And based on the wonderful praise reports we get almost daily now from our members who have already experienced the restoration of their marriages, we know ours will be worth the wait too, because we are seeing how God is very faithfully restoring their marriages to be so much more and better than they ever had before, just as His Word said He would do! So instead of focusing so much on the time it’s taking and how long we’re waiting, let’s focus on getting to know our Lord and Savior better, and then there’s no way to avoid being supernaturally blessed and encouraged!