Henry Blackaby said “Waiting is one of the hardest yet most important things we will ever do as Christians.”
I, personally, think that’s an understatement.
Think to yourself about how much time you spend waiting…
Waiting for the traffic light to turn green…
Waiting for the microwave to beep so you can enjoy those delicious leftovers…
Waiting to meet that special someone…
Waiting for that promotion at work…
Waiting for that phone call from the doctor…
Waiting for answers from God…
Waiting, waiting, waiting.
Dr. Blackaby is ever-so-correct… Waiting IS extremely hard, yet very, very important… Which is why my heart landed on the following verse as today’s “Hidden Ah-Ha” Bible Verse:
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” ~Psalm 27:14 NIV
The Message version says it like this: “Stay with God! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God.”
Awesome words. One of my favs, actually. Because I’m not gonna lie… I kinda stink at waiting and this verse has personally carried me through A LOT.
In our seasons of waiting, no matter how long or short or big or small, we are forced to draw near to God. Because oftentimes, He is the only one that is in control of anything. He is our Sustainer. Our Comforter. Our Guide. Our Companion. The One we can trust to get us through until the storm passes, an answer comes or the moment we have been anticipating arrives.
As I was praying about this verse, my dear friend Sara came to mind. See, like me, Sara is an army wife. We joke that army life is sometimes a big game of “Hurry up and wait.” And recently, she had been waiting months (specifically: nine) for her beloved husband Glen to return from Afghanistan.
The time for his return was rapidly approaching. Finally, instead of months, weeks or even days, they were down to hours.
But then, his flight got delayed.
UG. More waiting. Talk about an emotional roller coaster. I could identify with my sweet friend, because the same thing happened when my Beloved returned home from deployment… And back then, those extra 24 or so hours seemed like the end of the world.
But faithful Sara continued to wait… and… wait… AND WAIT. I was following Glen’s return to the States (or lack thereof) on Facebook. One morning, I posted this verse, “Stay with God! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God” on Sara’s wall because I was getting impatient and I was only a spectating cheerleader!! (At one point of this long waiting process, I started to wonder if the army was building a new plane from the ground up or something. It was taking FOR-EV-ERRRR. But I digress.)
Then finally… FINALLY, after EIGHT (yes EIGHT) additional days of waiting, Sara and Glen were reunited.
Praise. The. Lord! I thought my heart was going to explode for them.
But just as most things in our live, the waiting wasn’t fun. It wasn’t pleasant. But with God at the helm, it was (clearly) worth it.
So dear friends, regardless of WHAT you are waiting on today, be it a long anticipated answer from the Lord, some direction on which path to take, or you are waiting to see the other side of a storm, remember that God is right there with you in the midst of it all. Waiting draws you near to Him– and in all honesty, where else would we rather be?
So stay with God. Take heart. Don’t quit. Yep, I will say it again…
STAY. WITH. GOD.
Waiting with Expectation,
SGK
“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” ~Psalm 5:3 NIV
