While I Wait

Life is a waiting game.  It seems we are always waiting for something.  I spend more of my time, ironically, waiting for my turn while playing the board game of Life than actually playing the game.

The minute we are born the clock starts counting down for something to begin. Our first tooth, Kindergarten, baseball tryouts, our driver's license.  Our college acceptance letter.  Our first love.

We wait for our careers to start.  For children.  For our children to get a little older so we can take that trip to wherever.

We wait for people to call, letters to come, a table at a restaurant.

We wait for test results.  We wait in line.  We wait for whatever-it-is to start.

We wait and see.  Wait and wonder.  Or we wait and we wander (this is never good).

We wait so often that we have designated rooms for it.  "Have a seat in the waiting room.  The fill-in-the-blank will see you shortly."

We wait until we figure it out.  Wait until things get better.

My precious, beloved grandmother was moved to hospice last week.  She spent many years waiting on heaven.  Today Eloise waits no more.

What are you waiting for, my friend?

I've waited, too.  For a job, for direction, for Life to start!  (What does that even mean?)  I've waited through miscarriages, for a baby to come.

I've waited for summer vacation.  I've waited anxiously for my husband to come home during bad weather.

I've waited for pain to end and happiness to come.

Waiting is a silent force that will not be denied.

So, we wait.

And what do we do while we wait?

What if we used our wait for glory?  Not ours.  But His.

See, I am a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14).  We all are.  Everyone sees I have a light for Jesus.  Is it a flicker or a flame?  A little match or a great torch?  Am I a sparkler in a small child's hand or a firework that lights up the night sky?

They see us.  The world around you is watching your wait.

So how do I make my wait worth it's weight?  Here's my plan:

Trust in the Lord

with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding

In all your ways

acknowledge Him

And He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

I will trust in the Lord - because when has He ever failed me?

With all my heart - because I cannot be lukewarm for Him.

I will lean not on my own understanding - because, honestly, I understand about 0.07% of my life.  The good, the bad, the ugly.   And I'm okay with it because I trust in Him for my ultimate good.

In all my ways I will acknowledge Him - because I cannot expect His blessing if I willingly sin against Him and do not declare Him fully.

And He will make my paths straight.

That last part.  Listen.  In the original text "straight" literally means "plain," meaning to remove obstacles, to show clearly and evidently.  And who will give me such clarity?  

Friend, God Himself will!  

That's a stone-inscribed, rock hard promise from God.  You trust, you obey, and He shows you the way.  

Matthew Henry said, "It is promised.  He will direct thy paths so that they shall be safe and good and happy at last."

It is promised!

Don't refuse your wait, beloved.  Bask in it.  Live it!  It is not for naught if it is for Him.  

Your wait will end.  Whatever you are waiting for will one day come.  Or it won't.  But either way the wait will be done.  Live your wait in such a way that when you look back on it, instead of pity, you feel pride in that even in your darkness you remembered there was light.

I will sing in the stillness.

I will find wonder in the wait.

I will not be moved by not moving.

I will praise the plan before it is put into practice.

God Who Sees My Wait,

Help us to trust in You and lean not on our own understanding.  In all our ways let us acknowledge You.  We trust You to make our paths straight.

Lord, may it be so.