I have a verse that has been on my refrigerator for 5 years. This morning it was like the Lord gave me new eyes to see it and a new place in my heart to absorb it, so I thought I would pass it along in case it blesses you.
Monday, August 03, 2009
The Waiting
"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD."
Psalm 27:13-14 (NAS)
Whatever you are waiting for right now, whatever questions you have for God, I challenge you (and ME!) to pause and refocus your perspective. Instead of focussing on what you are waiting for...can you focus on WHO you are waiting for? Specifically, we must focus on the attributes we know to be true of God. He is sovereign, almighty, omnipotent, omniscient, slow to anger, rich in love, full of grace, just, worthy of all praise and trust.
Whatever you are waiting for right now, whatever questions you have for God, I challenge you (and ME!) to pause and refocus your perspective. Instead of focussing on what you are waiting for...can you focus on WHO you are waiting for? Specifically, we must focus on the attributes we know to be true of God. He is sovereign, almighty, omnipotent, omniscient, slow to anger, rich in love, full of grace, just, worthy of all praise and trust.
I heard a sermon a few weeks ago called "The Waiting Room." The pastor, Jeff Henderson, spoke of the experience of waiting for a doctor or a dentist. Even if the wait is lengthy, none of us would walk back into the back, take the instruments and perform our own procedures would we? (Well, maybe there are exceptions...) We recognize our limitations of knowledge and skill. We trust the experts. We realize that in our untrained hands, these instruments of healing could have disastrous results. Yet, when it comes to the circumstances of our life, we are often tempted to take control away from God and work it out for ourselves.
Waiting is hard. Especially when it feels like the clock is ticking. I have been there with waiting for the man I love and fearing that I would never walk down the aisle. I have been there with waiting for the Lord to open my womb and give me children. I have been there as I waited to see if I would need a heart transplant, if I would spend my life as a 'cardiac cripple' unable to run and jump and play with my children..jpg)
I have been there for years (and still am in some cases) waiting for God to heal people I love from cancer, an addiction--or to bring them to a saving knowledge of Himself.
I have been there for years (and still am in some cases) waiting for God to heal people I love from cancer, an addiction--or to bring them to a saving knowledge of Himself.I do not like to wait. I would despair if I did not have HOPE in the One who made me and saved me. It takes courage. It takes trust. He is worthy.
Be strong. Take heart. Wait for the Lord.
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13 comments:
This was for me....thank you for listening to the Lord's whisper and sharing this...
Thank you. I'm waiting too.
My hubby and I were just talking at dinner how waiting for God to come can get hard. Then we thought of Noah and how God had him preach for 120 years to the people before the flood. That was a lot of waiting for the ultimate result, but there must be something to the waiting. Making sure everyone gets a FULL chance.
We are all waiting for Him, no matter what our age. You are an inspiration to me ( I could be your mother) and I know that you make your parents so proud of you. I also know that you make God smile and bring joy to Him. We are all in waiting rooms of one kind or another...they change with time. What does not change is our beautiful God....He remains constant.
"Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord..." I have known this song for years, but had never heard it like I did a week ago. We are waiting to hear if our child is seriously ill or merely has an infection. I am, at times, completely exhausted and frustrated. But, I am reminded that He is my strength, my deliverer, doesn't grow weary and lifts us up on wings like eagles. Great post.
Wow. Timely for me. And the promise is that AS we wait, "We will gain new strength. We rise on wings of eagles. We will run and not grow tired; we will walk and not grow weary" (Is. 40:31). This waiting thing has a LOT of purpose. Thanks for the reminder.
Having just come to the end of a day when I felt such despair over our lengthy adoption journey, I felt God's love speak to me as I read the words of your post. I frequently read your blog but am not often a commenter. So, while I'm commenting, let me also thank you for your many thoughtful, intelligent, and spiritually uplifting posts.
i think of all the Fruits of the Spirit, patience is the hardest to me. Whether an influence of our quick-results society or my internal clockwork, either way it is often my cross to bear :)
i was inspired by a quite from G.K. Chesterton about the fact that God NEVER grows tired of waiting, NEVER grows tired of repetition...& NEVER will give up on us, regardless of how impatient we are...
quote is in red @ bottom of post: http://dailypieces.blogspot.com/2009/02/do-it-again.html
Hi - we don't know each other but I've been following your blog for a few weeks. I just wanted to say thank you for this post....it was exactly what I needed to hear this morning. Sometimes I get so mad because I've been 'waiting' for so long for something...and I feel like I'm ungrateful for everything I have. I know that HIS plan is not on my watch but that everything will happen on HIS time.
Thanks again...this was very encouraging to me.
Loved this post! I was at She Speaks this weekend and we had a big group lesson on this very topic. I loved your preacher's analogy of waiting at the dentist office! So true!
Thanks for the encouragement this morning.
J, looks like many of us needed to read this. As I wait, I work hard as an act of my will to remember that my timing is not His...and that He calls me to keep my eyes on Him and keep believing.
Thank you sharing! Psalm 27:13 was my stepmom's and my Bible verse early this spring as she completed her battle with cancer. Even in the midst of such heartache and pain that made it easy to doubt, God so consistently showed us his goodness in so many ways. He is the source of our hope.
Waiting here, too. Thanks so much for this post. It was just what I needed to read today.
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