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Posts Tagged ‘wait’

Stop, Then Go

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on May 17, 2016| 5 Comments »

Somehow eight minutes elapsed between the time I last glanced at the clock to when I got in my car. Now, I ran behind. Arrgh. I hate to be late.

traffic_light_05Of course the first traffic light I came to turned red just as I drove up. Really? One of the longest lights in my city and I am stuck at it. My fingers tapped the steering wheel as my gaze kept darting from the stop symbol to the clock on my dashboard.

Finally, green. Then, from there on in, I sailed through the next four lights, all on green! Even the left turn one onto the highway. Hurrah! Lo and behold I made up those few minutes I’d spent in frustration waiting for the first traffic light to change.

Oh – another God-lesson seeped into my brain and I slid down in my seat feeling a bit sheepish. Sometimes waiting is good. Okay, I get that.

God may have us halt for a while, but that is because it is in our best interest. It is not yet time for us to move. But when we do, in His timing, then we zip along and everything is a “go”.
Have you had that happen to you? I have. It is if every possible obstacle suddenly parts like the Red Sea. When we are in His will, paths are made straight. Waiting on God to say “Go” is well worth the wait…every time.

The next time I am getting impatient, Lord may I recall the traffic light lesson. Thank you for letting me find You today as I stared at the red, waiting for the green.

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Ready, Steady…WAIT!

Posted in Biblical, Devotional, tagged , , , , , on February 17, 2015| 7 Comments »

courtesy duanealley.com Royalty- Free Image by Corbis

courtesy duanealley.com
Royalty- Free Image by Corbis

Do you find it hard to wait?  If you are like most of us, you dislike waiting in line to be served, waiting at traffic lights, waiting in front of the microwave as lunch twirls around inside bombarded by heating waves, waiting for the tax refund….Yet, Scripture tell us we should wait.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.  Psalm 27:14 NIV

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3 NIV

I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:6 NIV

Many of us think waiting is inaction, doing nothing. But that is not true. Helen Lescheid, a devotional writer I follow, said this: “Waiting on God is not the same as doing nothing. The truth is, waiting requires tremendous faith and focus ”

Waiting means letting go of our control and our timing. It is to acknowledge that we cannot accomplish it on our own. We need assistance, be it the clerk at the DMV to approve our forms, the snarled rush hour traffic all wanting to enter the same intersection, our food to heat in a few minutes, or God to move in our lives. Life is about waiting. We may as well embrace it.

But there are things we can “do” while we wait. The time passes better for the one who p-r-a-y-s.

1.Pray. As you physically wait in a line, pray for those folks God brings to mind. Pray for those who are waiting with you, such as the woman with the unruly kids tugging on her pant leg. Pray for the old man bent over with a smoker’s cough. Pray for the young man who is dressed like a gang member. And as you wait on God to move in your life, pray for patience, strength to endure the in-between time, and wisdom to see the reasons for the waiting.

2. Reflect. Think on the past blessings in your life and praise God for them. Think about the outcomes when you patiently waited before and how the outcome was better for the effort.

3.Ask. If you get a tightness in your gut or begin to tap your foot, ask for peace and patience to envelop you. Ask for the butterflies to settle and your pulse to slow. Ask God to give you a sign that waiting is the correct thing to do.

4. Yield. Let go and let God. Sounds trite, but it can be so hard to pry your fingers from the situation and lay your hand in your lap, or fold them in prayer. Repeat to yourself the words of the Lord’s prayer: Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. 

5.Smile. Be friendly, even if everyone else is grumpy. Talk with the person ahead or behind you and be a witness to the peace that passes  all understanding. Smiles are contagious. Brighten everyone else’s day and yours will brighten as well. And alone in your prayer corner, smile to God as you pray. Let Him fill you with joy.

..but they who wait for 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..  Isaiah 40:31 RSV

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Wait for the Morning

Posted in Biblical, Devotional, tagged , , , , , on December 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Never had he seen it so dark.

The young sentry squinted his eyes into slits. It didn’t help.He couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, much less any enemy lurking. It was as if a dark blanket had covered the whole earth. No moon, no stars. Just thick swirls of black fog.

His ears picked up the muted call of his fellow guard at the tower to the north. “Three o’clock and all is well.”

The sentry repeated the call to the next tower, per protocol.  But it was more of a wish than a declaration. How could he be sure? A whole army could be hiding.  Instead of being here, he longed to be home, in his bed spooned next to his wife and feel her hand stroke his shoulder. He paced the twenty feet that was his guard post as he peered into the thickness that would not reveal what it cloaked.

He yearned for the evenings when the stars twinkled their welcome. At times they seemed so close to him high in his tower, he could almost reach out and grab one. Or the nights the full moon illuminated the hills with soft tree-shadows that reached across the meadows like the beckoning fingers of his grandmother. But tonight, there was no light at all. No way to keep his bearings.

Three more hours until dawn. Would it ever come?Oh, how he wished for this night to be over. He wanted to breathe in the smell of honey and hot porridge waiting for him when he traipsed in at dawn. Feel the steam envelope his nostrils and the warmth slide down into his belly.He crossed his arms and rubbed them to keep out the chill–not so much from the temperature as from the ominous feeling he  could not shake. Evil lay out there like a tiger waiting to pounce. He needed reassurance that he’d survive the next few hours unscathed.

All he could do is wait, and hope. Trust in the God of his fathers to protect him, protect his family inside the walls, protect the whole village. He lifted a simple, plain-spoken prayer to Heaven beyond the stars he could not physically see.

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
 I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          more than watchmen wait for the morning.     Psalm 130:5-6

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I hope my story encourages you today. If you are in a dark, uncertain place right now, take hope. Your Lord will watch over you, protect you and guide you through it. All you have to do is ask, then wait in hope. He can see what you cannot.

Let His love envelope you like a cloak. There is nothing that He will not hold you through, so cling to that belief and feel His peace.

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In a Wag

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on January 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

dreamstimefree_209775Visiting a friend, I noticed a little  dog in the backyard. When she heard her master’s voice she came to the slider and perched, ears cocked, and waited. She was unable to reach up and open the sliding glass herself. But she knew her master would come over and let her in.

However,  my friend waited until everyone at the gathering had come through the front door and found a seat. She didn’t want wilds of the street to be too tempting, or for the little dog to get underfoot. My friend knew when the best time to open the door would be. The dog sat there patiently and didn’t even bark. That is trust.

As my friend made her way to the glass door, the little dog sat up and wagged her tail back and forth so rapidly that it became a blur of fur. She stood, her weight shifted from leg to leg and her eyes were fixed on the hand as it reached for the handle. With each wag I could almost hear the doggie’s enthusiastic thoughts –

“My master is here. My master noticed me and is coming to meet me. My master is opening a way for me.”

Dearest Lord, May I be so eager to receive You. Your death on the cross opened a way for me to enter into Your presence. My prayers summon You to the Heavenly slider between earth and eternity. May I have the patience of that little puppy to know You will open doors for me in Your timing when it is right. May I wait in trust and obedient certainty, then be quick to respond in thanksgiving and praise. Amen.

 

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In a Psalm verse

Posted in Biblical, Christian, Devotional, tagged , , , , , , , on October 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Love the LORD, all you his saints!
  The LORD preserves the faithful
  but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
  all you who wait for the LORD!
(Psalm 31:23-24 ESV)

We have only two choices. Act on our own, or wait upon the Lord’s timing.  We can have the faith that God will keep His promise or strike out on our own to usher it along.

Abraham made that mistake with Hagar, his wife’s maidservant. He believed God’s promise that he would be a father of a great nation one day. But when Sarah, his wife, didn’t conceive in her old age, he thought he had to get the ball rolling.The result is he became the father of two nations and they have been at war ever since.

Now, I am not saying we sit on our hands and do nothing. Quite the contrary. We keep doing what God has called us to do, trusting that, in His perfect timing, the fruits of our labor will be revealed. God’s ways are often more like a crock pot than a microwave.

In this instant-result orientated world, that even more than ever it takes three things, as the psalmist says –

  • Swallowing our pride
  • Being strong in our faith
  • Having the courage to keep on keeping on

Wait for it. Keep believing – but keep at the task.

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