Honestly, I feel like a hypocrite typing this post, no matter what I say, because patience is one of my personal biggest areas of struggle. This image is is two fold - forgetting His works (like we talked about yesterday) and not waiting for His counsel. The waiting part is probably one of the most difficult of all types of obedience because we often spend our time waiting in confusion.
I think the big calls like "follow Me" or circling the walls of Jericho or even Abraham's call to go to a land that God would show him are a little easier to swallow than the call to wait. One of the greatest examples that sticks out in my head is when David is fasting for the life of his son, born out of his sin with Bathsheba. In 2 Samuel 12, we have an interesting story of God's punishment for David's sin. The prophet Nathan tells David that his child will die due to his sin, so David goes to seek The Lord and for seven days lies before The Lord in prayer and fasting. No one can get him to get up or convince him to eat. At the end of seven days, his child dies and his servants are afraid to tell him because he was already in such a distressed state. But instead, when he learns of his sons death, he rises, bathes and gets dressed, worships before The Lord and eats. Everyone is baffled. But David understood something better than almost anyone else - in the time while he was waiting for The Lord to act, he could pray and fast and remain before The Lord. There was nothing he could do to heal the child or change God's mind: all David could do was wait. But David waited with expectation of an answer, which God gave him when the child died. God's answer was no. And David's response was to worship.
Pause for just a minute and think about how you normally respond when God tells us no. For me - I know the answer. I complain - I try to bargain or convince Him that my way was better - I cry out in despair or anger. But David submits to God's will and instead of complaining, he worships.
My husband, who had already been deployed to Korea and then directly to Iraq, was being sent to Iraq again, with our newborn daughter only 3 months old, me having a terrible health condition as a result complication from her birth and twin 2.5 year old boys. My husband COULD NOT leave me again. I prayed every day. I fasted. I begged. I cried. I told The Lord that I needed a miracle right then - He had the power to change what the Army had ordered, so He must fix this.
His answer was no. My husband left anyway (safely to return 15 months later) and it was time to move on. The answer was given, which meant there was a plan, different from my own, that I was being called to follow. It was so much easier once I had an answer, than when I was waiting to see if He might intercede. My relationship felt restored with The Lord, once my husband was gone again, compared to the distance I felt when I was waiting for my miracle. Waiting is so much harder than walking.
I have since had many more opportunities to wait and I wish I could report that I handle them better. Most of the time, I spend the time feeling like time is creeping along and experiencing a great chasm between myself and The Lord. But this step of faith - waiting on The Lord - is critical to a successful walk. When Israel got tired of waiting for Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai, the made a golden calf to worship. When Saul was tired of waiting for Samuel to come to him in battle, he offers the sacrifice himself and loses his kingdom. When Jesus' disciples are supposed to be waiting up with Him in the garden to pray, they fall asleep. We all struggle with waiting.
But waiting can be an active state as well. In Christy Knockles song "Waiting Here For You", she gives a wonderful description of what waiting can be, when we approach God with a humble heart of expectation. The chorus says "Waiting here for You, with our hands, lifted high in praise. And it's You, we adore, singing alleluia." Waiting can be an act of worship, because it is a sign of our faith. When we actively wait for The Lord, expecting Him to move in our lives and in our hearts, humbled to His will,we find that God has a rich time of worship and the experience of His presence. Waiting is not passive. It is not punishment. It is obedience. It is love. And it is good.
"Wait for The Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for The Lord!" (Psalm 27:14)
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