WAIT

In the last post I asked for prayers for Marianne and Makenna. Marianne is still sick. Thankfully her mother was able to come down and help, but has to leave tomorrow.

As I also said in the last post, God has told us to WAIT and BELIEVE. Through Isaiah 30:15-26 God told me three things.

1. Nothing can speed up God's grand design.
2. We, like Israel, often call upon God to ease our pain without wanting Him to change our behavior.
3. We only get to our promised land when we UNRESERVEDLY follow the Lord.

One thing that has been on my mind this morning is Genesis 15:1 where God says to Abram "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." NIV "Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, and thy exceedingly great reward." KJV Some translations word it as "and your reward will be very great". Which is fine, obviously, but the NIV and KJV remind me that God is our very great reward and what better reward could there be? The Creator of the Universe chooses to give us Himself! Glory and WAHOO!

Marianne posted this poem on her site this morning and I think that it can speak to all of us. Some of us might be experiencing it more acutely at this moment than others, but all of us will have to or already have had to WAIT. May we choose to learn these lessons in our seasons of waiting.

''WAIT"
Desperately, helplessly,longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
and the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."
"Wait, you say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your hand shortened? Or have You not heard?
By Faith I have asked, and I am claiming Your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to WAIT?"
I'm needing a "Yes" a go-ahead sign.
Or even a "No" to which I can resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
"I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
and grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting....for what?"
He seemed then to kneel And His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run."
"All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want-- But, you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me;
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart."
"The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you have asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have last."
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that, "My Grace is sufficient for thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you!"
"So, be silient, My child and in time you will see...
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, "Wait.""