While I'm Waiting

North Point Community Church is doing a series called 'The Waiting Room' right now and I've been watching it online. It's really great so far. I think that waiting is something everyone can relate to. It seems like everyone is always waiting for something. For their prince charming to come and sweep them off their feet. For that coveted diamond ring and the promise of forever. For the knowledge that forever is even part of the plan. For a job to pay the bills. For the economy to turn around so they can support their families. For God to tell them where to go. For some direction in life. If it's not one thing, it's another. We're always waiting.

There always comes a point where we wonder if God has forgotten us. We ask "how much longer will this last?" and "are you even paying attention to me?", but how often do we ask "what do you want me to learn here?" When we focus on the first two questions, we unintentionally build up anger and resentment toward God. We aren't interested in what to do while waiting, we just want out. We don't see the purpose in waiting.

We have a choice when it comes to waiting. We can look at our circumstances and say that God has forgotten us, or we can say that He is preparing us. We have the choice and the ability to turn frustration into perseverance and worry and anxiety into endurance. God has never forgotten His people, and He's not going to start with me. Trying to take matters into my own hands will only make things worse. We would never assume we know more than a doctor and start operating on ourselves. They are educated and we are not. That's where scars come from. But we do the same thing with God all the time. Waiting isn't the hardest part, the aftermath of not waiting on God is.

God hasn't forgotten. He is preparing you. He is preparing me. How will you look at your circumstances? What will your life look like if you believe and act like God is preparing you?

a friend of mine posted this on her blog and I just love it. thanks Jennifer!

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, He replied.

I pleaded, and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "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 I'm claiming your Word.

"My future, and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me "wait?"

I'm needing a 'yes', a go ahead sign,

Or even a 'no', to which I can resign.

And Lord, you have 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 met with mine

And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, darken the sun,

Raise the dead, cause the mountains to run. "

All you see 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 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 was all you could see.

"You would never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.

You would 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 in the night;

The faith that I give when you walk without sight;

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last. "

And you never would know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee'

Yes, your dreams for that loved one overnight could come true,

But the loss! if you 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 most precious answer of all...is still...wait.