Waiting?!
Are you waiting for something? Are you waiting for life to get back to what was once normal? Will churches ever resume at full capacity? When will the kids be able to go back on campus? And how much harder it becomes when the decisions made one day, can change the very next.
What about the waiting that includes these questions, or for some, prayers… Will I ever get the job or the long awaited promotion? Am I ever going to get pregnant? Am I ever going to be healed? Will my marriage be restored?
Now, let me reword those questions a little bit differently: What if I never get THE job or the long awaited promotion? What if I never get pregnant? What if I am NOT supposed to be healed? What if my marriage is never restored?
Those questions are not asked that way because we are pessimistic or we are not positive thinkers or able to use visualizations the right way, or even that we aren’t praying correctly. They are asked that way because we may have a little bit of understanding that following those questions, the answers may not be the long awaited yes, instead they are sometimes the very clear NO or the dreaded WAIT! It’s the answer that we know we don’t want to hear, and we hope we are wrong, but know in our heart the end result will bring glory to God.
Can we accept those answers? Do those answers make God cruel if it’s not the answer we and our loved ones have prayed for and maybe even claimed! Or worse, are we weak and of little faith?! This one makes US more responsible for the outcome.
Can we bring ourselves to a place, in our pain, to accept the hard answers? Or better yet, can we bring ourselves to the end of ourselves, and let God be God and just WAIT?? Are we willing to cry out as the Psalmist, in humility and confidence in who our Creator God is and say “And now Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in Thee”(Ps. 39:7 kjv) and let Him change our hopes and dreams to what He created us to be, For His Glory and not our end game.
Andrew Murray says in his book, “Waiting on God”, “If we truly set ourselves to wait upon God, we shall find that it is with Him we are impatient, because He does not at once, or as soon as we could wish, do our bidding”*
OUCH!
I pray that doesn’t seem insensitive or harsh, but that this truth brings conviction to you as a believer. And then comfort and encourage you to trust our Creator God to lead, to take care of and to provide for His creation. He has always wanted to take care of his creation. It is us who don’t want Him around, until things aren’t going as planned. I say that with experience.
Then we present ourselves, usually quite boldly, making our requests known, along with our Bible Verses, to defend or promote our request and walk away thinking we must be entitled to our answer because we found the verses in the Bible and so that guarantees me to the answer I desire. Here is one I liked to use, Proverbs 37:4, “Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart!”
Let me just say, I am quite the pro at making an appeal. I learned what that meant studying to become a Paralegal, and then I learned how to apply it scripturally. I made many appeals with my earthly father, and I have made many more to my Heavenly Father.
When my husband left, I went straight to my Heavenly Father. Here is the condensed version of my appeal. “Lord, I entered a covenantal marriage before You and hundreds of others. God hates divorce, so I’m willing to stay faithful to it.” I added fasting to my prayers, for the sake of my four girls who need their father.
The list could go on and on and the Bible Verses are endless. But what if restoration is a NO, or what if it’s a WAIT and Pray. Is God mean? Is this above Him? Is He even involved or needed in any attempt to restore my marriage? That was four and a half years ago. My marriage has not been restored. I could be asking WHY NOT?
What if I stop praying what I think I am supposed to be praying, and begin praying, “And now O’ Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.” Ps. 39:7
Then with confidence, allow Him to prepare my heart for what comes next. And trust Him, even if that includes that restoration will never come and divorce will be permanent.
His Word also says: “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waits for him.” Isaiah 64:4 kjv
Wow, that is a pretty exciting promise. What are you praying for? Are you waiting for an answer? Are you willing to ask differently? Are you willing to accept the No as clear redirection? Can we be patient enough during the “Wait” and for it to be embraced as a time of preparation for what He is preparing for us?
As I testify here and now, and anytime someone wants to meet for coffee, He is Faithful! Even if the outcome at this time is not as I desire. He is still Loving and Good!
I can promise you that “I (am) waited(-ing) patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry…And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God” Ps. 40:1,3
He also promises, “They that wait upon the Lord will not be ashamed! Ps. 25:3
So hold strong my dear friend!
Here is a song with words of encouragement for your wait:
Deanna Lynam says
Oh, dear sweet Amy, you’ve written encouraging Words that I needed to hear. I am in one of those “waiting” rooms. I am fully trusting in the LORD, yet sometimes grow weary. But, as you said God is always faithful and that gives me great and sure Hope! Thank you once again for sharing your heart. Do know that God uses it to encourage and make one think!
I love you,
Deanna 🙂
Amy Dobler says
Thank you Deanna, your words encourage me to remain diligent and more faithful to sing of God’s faithfulness, even when
the lessons are hard. And with me often repeated! The plans He has for us here on earth are nothing
compared to His plans for eternity. That is when everything will truly be better!
Melissa says
Hi, my friend! Beautiful admonition. I love your pursuit of Jesus! I love that you pour forth wisdom that you’ve received as well. Yes, it’s so easy to be entitled. I’ve found myself acting like the brother of the prodigal before and trying to use algebra on God. “But Look what I did. I did everything right…. I thought a plus b would equal my c.” Nope. No guarantees. He’s in charge and I’m not. He sees the whole picture and knows best. And he wants my trust and love. And another thing. He wants me to have correct thinking. Biblical, truthful thinking. My worth and identity isn’t defined by what I do for Him. It’s by what He’s done for me. I am a beloved child of God.
Amy Dobler says
Amen! Thank you for your constant encouragement Melissa!
Ruth says
Love this, Amy!