What’s up with all of this waiting Lord – don’t You see the torment these delays are causing me? You could do something about all of this if You wanted to. Don’t you care?
Oh how we whine and whine and whine (at least I do) when things don’t go the way we want them to, or when they don’t go there in OUR perfect timing. Doesn’t God know that we know what’s best for us?
I can get frustrated, even on my best days, when I’m willing to do anything He tells me to do, or am willing to go anywhere He asks me, when I ask what, where, when, and the answer is simply, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
He could call ten thousand angels to move the obstacles that seem to be in my way if He wanted to. He could annihilate everyone that’s in my way – oops, that could mean me – maybe I’m the one that’s in the way. O.K., let’s skip that one for now! The reality is that when I am hemmed in, it is usually God who does the hemming. How wonderful that we are never hemmed out, but always hemmed in “to God”.
When the children of Israel found themselves, with mountains on the left, and mountains on the right, an impassible sea in front of them, with an army bent on their destruction bearing down on them, they were about as hemmed in as you can get. What would, to the natural eye, appear to be a devilish entrapment, looks to me as though it had the handprints of God all over it. Without the “hemming in”, they would never have seen the miraculous, delivering power of God (Exodus 14).
You see, if we never have great need, we will never see great provision. If we never have great trials, we will never know the joy of great triumph. If we never know terrible delays, we will never fully appreciate the delight of sudden deliverance. If we are never touched by sorrow’s heavy hand, how will we recognize the joy that comes in the morning. You only see great miracles when you have great need of them.
So, why all this waiting? Why does He make me lie down in green pastures (Psalm 23:2) when what I want is to accomplish something, when what I want is to “run against a troop, and leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:29), when what I want ….. when what I want ….. when what I want ……. When what I want …….
Perhaps all this waiting is designed to set me free from all of my “when what I want’s”. Maybe, just maybe, God knows what I need better than I do. Perhaps He really is conforming me to His image, and, after all, He is patient.
“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
James 5:7-8
“ …rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer”
Rom 12:9-13
Maybe, just maybe, He wants me to learn, once and for all, that He only does perfect things. Maybe He wants to prove Himself to me once again. Maybe He wants me to finally believe that He is all the protection I will ever need. Maybe He wants me to finally get it through my thick skull that there is no one like Him. Maybe He wants me to stop clinging to flimsy, ever changing things, and cling to the “Rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2). Maybe He wants me to finally learn to walk in His supernatural strength. Maybe, rather than giving me what I want right now, He wants to make it perfect for me first. Maybe He wants to equip me to climb on the high places before sending me on my way. Maybe He wants to teach me a little more about spiritual warfare before sending me to the next battlefield. Perhaps He wants to improve my spiritual aim.
Maybe, just maybe, He wants to hold me in His arms and protect me, love me, impart strength to me, be gentle with me, and increase my capacity to live and love. Maybe, just maybe, He really does know what He’s doing after all.
“As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
For who is God, except the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.”
Ps 18:30-36
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