Do you ever get a tune stuck in your head? It seems everywhere you turn that dang song is blaring at you and you can’t escape it and then you’re imprisoned by the lovely bars of “Here’s the story, of a man named Brady, who was busy with three boys of his own….” for the next however many hours or days it takes to replace it with something better. (And yes, I’m sorry, I know it’s stuck in your head now.)
Well I think I’m in the middle of the heavenly equivalent of the Brady Bunch song looping through my head. It’s happened before. God will be driving home a point and no matter where I go there is a sermon or a study or a radio song or a friend’s phone call that just reinforces the point and I can NOT escape it. Granted, when God does it, it’s for a greater purpose. And I realize that. But it doesn’t mean I necessarily WANT to hear the message I’m being surrounded by. In fact, more often than not, I’d rather not hear the words that are blaring at me.
The message du jour (or du semaine as the case may be) is waiting. Patience. Waiting and Patience. Patience and Waiting. Really? I’m so not in the mood. And who is in this day and age? Instant messaging, emailing, texting, digital information, downloads, Internet 24-7 — we don’t HAVE to wait. We’re no longer taught to wait. And all that talk in the Bible about the virtues of waiting has begun to fall on deaf ears. I’m the first to admit it. I’ve lost the aptitude for patience. My spirituality has suffered as a result. So God’s reminding me. In no uncertain terms. And I’m not in the mood to listen to this particular refrain. But it doesn’t matter because I can not escape it.
To begin with, I heard an incredibly powerful message from Beth Moore during her study of James entitled Between the Rains. The very first point in the lesson was simple: “Be Patient.” It comes straight from James’ instruction in Chapter 5. She went on to explain how there is a season, which James was describing for his readers of the time, between the fall and spring rain. It’s the dry season. It’s when the crop grows. And if the rain were to continue nonstop from fall to spring the crop would drown because what can grow in two feet of water. That’s our season of waiting. That’s the season when we are called by God to be patient. The rain will come again but for now it’s for us to wait. That’s what led me to my earlier post, a scripture from that evening, the lesson that God will act (as Beth says, “only if the sun rises”) but for this time we are being called to actively await Him.
No sooner did I process that message than an email popped in my in-box a day later. Our pastor sends out weekly emails & the FIRST sentence (much like Beth’s FIRST bullet point) was this quote, “Quit trying to have a baby with Hagar and just wait on Isaac.” Wow. I felt like God was telling me I was trying to have a baby with Hagar. (For those of you not familiar with the reference, this is when Abraham doubted God would provide him a son, Isaac, and instead slept with his wife’s servant to “help” God give him an offspring – Genesis 16.) When we stop waiting and start trying to actively move God along, what havoc we wreak.
He realizes our human nature naturally lends itself to impatience. Why else would there be over 40 references imploring us to patience/be patient. He knows it requires us to rely upon Him to have patience (Col. 1 – being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience). Knowing all that, He calls us to wait. To stop trying to speed up His plan to fit into a 2011 timeline and just wait. Be patient. He WILL act – only if the sun rises.
So now John Waller’s tune is stuck on auto-replay in my head, right along with James 5, and I’ll try to wait:
I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait
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