Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. Psalms 27:7-9 (NIV)
Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. Psalms 37:34 (NIV)
Anybody else besides me in the waiting room??? Not my favorite place to be to be sure! I am pretty confident that I am not alone in that feeling. There is just something about waiting that stirs up the emotions. We wait for our grades, we wait for jobs, we wait for our spouses, we wait for our babies, we wait for test results, for healing, for moves, for whatever! Considering how much we wait, it would be a good thing for us to learn how to wait God’s way and not our own, Amen?
Left to my own devices in the wait I succumb to tears, anxiety, fits of rage (yes, sadly, rage – my poor husband!), taking matters into my own inept hands – well you get the picture (and it’s not a pretty one!). And all along, God is there patiently waiting for me to look up and He will calm my crazy self-down. He reminds me He is working in the wait – maybe on my hard heart, or anger or perhaps thinking I know what’s best for my life and the lives of my entire family! He has had to show me time and time and time again, that what He allows is really for my good and His glory never one surpassing the other. Never. He wants me (and I want it too) to quit kicking against His best for my life. Sometimes His answer is “Yes”, sometimes “No”, sometimes “Wait”. If His answer is “No” it is always for a far greater “Yes” – even though I cannot possibly imagine that.
I remember one time I was confident I had a great plan all worked out for myself and my family and was praying fervently towards that end. Now the praying part is not wrong if it is desired and followed by the “Nevertheless not my will but Yours” (which it was not!). This went on for awhile until in one quiet time He hit me with Truth and I got it big. What He wanted for me was so much better than my small little dream. He thinks bigger and I am thankful! We can trust Him with our lives and with the lives of all we love and hold dear. He’s not out to make us miserable rather He is out to make us like Jesus – that is what He is after and that is worth it.
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalms 27:13-14 (NIV)