Waiting on Him

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Genesis 18:14      “Is anything too hard for the LORD?  At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”   

Psalm 27:14    Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say on the LORD!

Psalm 37:7, 9, 34     Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. . . For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. . . .  Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

Psalm 130:5     I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope.  My soul waits for the LORD more than those who watch for the LORD more than those who watch for the morning–yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Proverbs 16:9     A man’s heart plans his steps, but the LORD directs his steps

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11     To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: . . .He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from the beginning to the end.

Isaiah 30:18     Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.  For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him

Lamentations 3:25-26     The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.     

Micah 7:7      “But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”

Habakkuk 2:3     For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.  Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Acts 1:7     And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.”        

Galatians 6:8-9     For he sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will reap of the Spirit reap everlasting life.  And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

 

I don’t like waiting–at all.  I have learned not to jump at my desire for immediate gratification–which has more often than not caused me a lot of discomfort and unhappiness, but therefore has proved that God will give me things in due time.  And not always what I have asked for, wanted, or at least thought I wanted and it would be good for me to have.  But it has taken me decades to rein in my impatience and need to fulfill that yearning to have filled the self gratification NOW.  

Finally, after plunging off the “I want now” cliff and landing with a splat! I have learned that I will get what I need, not always what I want, and have seen sometimes, that the thing I wanted would not have been good for me.   Certainly, I learned that instead of leaping off, it is safer and more rational and smart to wait on Him.  And sometimes, I don’t get an answer.  I have come to realize, He does not need to answer me about every thing I have a concern about regarding my family, their decisions, and my place on His earth is not to know everything.  I don’t even get to know everything about my own life, WHY should I think I am entitled to His answers concerning someone I love.  He gave each of us the ability to make our own choices; and because someone’s choice does not agree with how I want them to conduct their life–it is THEIR choice, and between them and God.

For the most part, I have never had to wait for anything of real import–a child being severely ill with one of the many cancers and wondering and praying if the treatments will work; or war and the underlying fear that goes into possibility of my family or myself being severely maimed, or the disappearance of a child–not knowing if kidnapped, being abused, tortured, and the WAITING to see the outcome–even if returned dead, then there is a knowing, good-byes can be said, but waiting in anxiety for the outcome is terrible.   Blessedly, my times of waiting never were for something horrific that may have happened to a child.  Most of my waiting, although important, clearly there is still time for a positive outcome.  

I wait for many of my relatives and loved ones to seek God, and choose Him as the Way.  Up to now, that has not happened.  So my family and many friends are in my prayers constantly.  I still can be impatient with waiting to see what will develop in my life, in their lives, and jobs, even feel impatient with the violence and unrest within this crazy, turbulent world.  So, I wait.  I may not get answers, but I have the reassurance that in His timing, my time on earth will end, and I will really be home.   

Lord, You created me, and I wonder how often You shook your head at my stubborn impatience, demands for You to “hurry up, please!”  and then I would get another test dealing with patience and whether I would show it in this new circumstance You gave.  Thank goodness, I am a work in progress until the day You take me home.  But I want to be more patient in waiting and have improved a tad, and just need to thank You for Your patience and grace while I stumble along my life path.  And thank You for always being there for me and ‘mybellaviews.’

                                                                                                                   Broken Toys         (Anonymous)

      As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend, I brought my broken dreams to God because He was my Friend

      But then instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone, I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own.

      At last I snatched them back and cried, “How could You be so slow?”  “My child, ” He said, “What could I do?  You never did let go.”