I am a full blooded American and I hate waiting.
I hate waiting in line to check-out anywhere… however Wal-Mart is the highest of my capability to despise.
I hate waiting at a red light… especially when there is not another vehicle visible for miles.
I hate waiting on a video or a picture to load to a computer or device… that spinning beach ball or arrow makes me want to throw my electronic device on the ground and stomp all over it while I scream out my frustrations.
I hate waiting in line to use the bathroom… the closer you get to your turn the less your post baby delivery ability “to hold it” becomes.
I.
Hate.
Waiting.
The word “wait” is used at least 142 times in the Scriptures according to the NASB. One Hundred. Forty-two. Times.
My life psalm is Psalm 25… the word wait is used three times in this one psalm. Three. Yeh.
In Psalm 25 the Hebrew word for wait is qavah it is a verb that means to wait for but more so probably originally twist, stretch, then of tension of enduring, waiting.
Well, I can assure you that waiting indeed does does some major twisting in my gut, and definitely stretches my patience, and assuredly does a fantastic job of causing me to endure vast amounts of tension.
The Strong’s Concordance lists it as… gather together, look, patiently, tarry, wait for, on, upon. A primitive root; to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. Collect; (figuratively) to expect — gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon).
There is a scene in the book/movie Catching Fire where the tributes are first sent to the arena…
Yeh, that one.
There they are standing on that little pedestal waiting. If they jump off too soon they explode and if they jump off too late they explode and even when they do jump off at just the right time, they still have no clue what is next.
That’s what this time of waiting feels like right now.
In April of this year my husband and I both new that the Lord was releasing me from my position as Children’s Ministry Director at our church. We both new the exact moment that this release came. So I sent in my resignation.
However, we had no clue what all was coming next…
We would find ourselves spending the next months with all our apple baskets overturned and our hands up in the air as we teeter tottered on the pedestal of waiting.
Waiting for His Will…
Make me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day.
Psalm 25:4-5
So though I hate waiting… I love my Lord… so I wait… and we look expectantly for Him and for His direction for our family.
The Lord favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness
Psalm 147:11
We wait…
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:31
We wait because it’s when we run ahead of the Lord that we get weary and lose all our strength and stumble and fall. It’s when we run ahead of the Lord that we find ourselves caught and tangled up and face planted on the ground with no ability to see.
A ride on the wings of an eagle soaring gives us a much better eye view of what’s ahead.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
Habukkuk 2:3
***
For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.
Isaiah 64:4
So we wait.
We wait for direction for our family in ministry.
We wait for my Daddy-in-Law to regain enough strength to be able to begin chemo treatments to allow him to then undergo a surgery to remove his bladder.
We wait to see if the Lord will move on behalf of my Daddy and use the chemo treatments he is currently undergoing to destroy the lung cancer cells that have recently been discovered in his body.
We wait for a cure to come as my Sister-in-Law continues her battle with liver cancer.
We wait for the day that our Lord will come and redeem and restore our bodies and cancer will no longer be even a cause for concern.
We wait in hope against hope for that glorious day.
And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Romans 8:23-25
However until that day comes and as we wait… we love.
We love the Lord.
And we love each other.
And we seek to love others to the love of the Lord…
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Jude 1:20-21
…knowing that He will use this waiting for His glory. He will use even this cancer for His glory. He will use us for His glory. For we are His and He is ours… and we wait for His will…
Not our will but His will be done.