Waiting

     Waiting.  Waiting on God and praying and trusting.
     One of my very favorite passages in all the Bible is Isaiah 40.  What a vision of our glorious, Almighty God.  Let His Word wash over you:
     "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.  Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?  He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power not one is missing.  Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God?'  Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." (Is.40:25-31)
     How I love to look up at the expanse of the heavens, especially in the mountains, and see the innumerable far flung stars and praise the One who made every single one of them and knows them each by name.  Who can comprehend such vast distances, such power?  And He is mighty to save and redeem and restore the broken and the weary and the despairing... while we wait upon Him.
     But boy, it's that waiting part that can be so hard.  I have always been such an impatient person.  When I get hungry, I want that meal now.  When I'm hurting, I want relief now.  When I pray, I want answers now.  Of course, don't we all?  And such an immediate "now" mentality builds weakness and shallowness and ingratitude.  I've often heard it said that a mushroom can grow overnight but a mighty oak takes years and years.  With our children, with our character, are we hoping to grow mushrooms or mighty oaks?  Forgive me, Father, for how often I want to opt for the easy and the quick rather than waiting in faith on You and seeking Your highest and deepest and greatest.
     Right now, we are waiting.  We are waiting on our Father and on our precious Janie and beseeching the Lord, as she waits in His tender embrace, to "renew her strength" and to enable her to "mount up with wings like eagles" from her bed, and to "run and not be weary."  And as we pray for her, we pray for all of us to wait upon Him in steadfast faith and hope, trusting that no matter what happens in this life, He will renew us and strengthen us and enable us to praise Him and walk victoriously with Him.
     We have waited for so many things in the past.  Waiting to get married.  Waiting to have a child.  Waiting to hear about college admissions.  So much waiting in life--but all that waiting now seems like nothing compared to this hard, long waiting.  A sorrowful siege of waiting when my heart wants to be gripped with fear,  but my Lord calls me to trust and rest in Him.  We can only do that by His power as we look to Him, daily, hourly, and cry out in faith.  "Father, we cannot do it.  Help us, show us how, enable us to look to You, not our feelings, to trust in You, not in anything man says, to hope in You, not in any lesser thing."  And He answers with His peace in this waiting.
     All of us are waiting for something in our lives... and for many, it is a hard waiting.  A sorrowful waiting.  A scary waiting.  Waiting for that prodigal to return.  Waiting for healing in the midst of great pain.  Waiting for that longed-for baby.  Waiting for restoration in some broken relationship.  Waiting for release from addiction or redemption from failure.  Hard, long waiting.
    Help us, Father, to wait on You in faith and peace and praise, knowing You are the God of restoration, and redemption, and resurrection.  You work best in the graveyards of our lives.
    I awoke this morning thinking of Your tomb... the tomb of God.  For three long days they waited.  Three days on earth.  But three days in the heavenlies?--like an eternity,  for Your Word says in heaven, a day is like a thousand years.  Earth waited and wept.  Heaven waited for eons of time for the Son of God, the Messiah, the Lion of Judah to be released and resurrected and victory won.
     They waited and waited.
     And after all that waiting, suddenly, the Word, the Light, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Living Water, the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Bread of Life, the Resurrection and the Life was resurrected and redemption for His own secured forever.
     Thank You, Lord Jesus, for teaching us how to wait and helping us as we wait.  Might we look to You in our hard waiting--serving, trusting, praying, praising even while we wait.  And we ask, by Your mercy and grace and goodness, that You would answer our prayers on behalf of our Janie and on behalf of all who are waiting and beseeching You in their own hard waiting.  We pray for Your perfect will in our lives and in the lives of those we love, Lord--help us to trust and rejoice with whatever You know is ultimately for our greater good and Your greater glory.  Father, we wait and pray, in Your time, for the stone to be rolled away.
     To the Resurrected Lord be all the glory.