While I'm Waiting...

I find myself once again re-learning the discipline of waiting. This I have come to know my friends...waiting on the Lord can be excruciatingly difficult. I have fought many battles and shed an abundance of tears during this process.

Part of the problem is the culture in which you and I live. Drive-thrus, microwaves, the "time-saver"cycle on the washer, instant oatmeal...instant almost anything really. I want it, I get it. Heck, even cable has channels "On-Demand".


Even amid these "instants", there are still circumstances in which I have to wait. I can't get a healthy baby in much less than 9 1/2 months. I am held up in rush hour traffic. Try getting out of the doctor's office in any kind of acceptable time...even the room in which I sit is appropriately entitled the waiting room. I can't even watch the live "season finale" a minute sooner than when it starts (can you imagine?). But these are cases of everyday waiting...expected, ordinary, acceptable or at times, simply annoying.

Looking past the predictable however, there is the kind of waiting that demands a response. It will have a life altering outcome. The kind of waiting that steeps in agony..

• Waiting for a job to open up
• Waiting for a prodigal to return
• Waiting for the test results
• Waiting for your spouse to come back
• Waiting for God to fulfill promises that He has spoken to you

I confess, there are many times I resign. I just don't have it in me. It gets too hard, too painful, too grueling...I'm done. I have had this very conversation with God this week. It's funny how those conversations work. I tell Him all the reasons why I am hanging it up...He listens. I tell Him all the reasons I just cannot go on...He listens. Then, in His usual gentle way, He begins to speak. I hear Him, if I am listening.

Today He spoke to me through His word and a song that has become my theme song. While my grip has slipped lately, I will hold on and worship while I'm waiting...

(Press Play)