The Sacredness of Waiting

There are moments when truth just hits you.  Sometimes, I will be listening to a sermon, and the Holy Spirit will take something that wasn't a main point at all, and make it a main point for me.  This morning my pastor was beginning his sermon about "A King is Born" and he mentioned how between the Old Testament and the New Testament there was a gap of 400 years.  The people of God had the prophesies and promises of the messiah to come, and then there was silence.  At that moment the thought came into my mind, "Then they had nothing except the promises of God to hold on to."  I felt a solemn sacredness about this.  Even now as I type it I can sense the powerful, holy truth that is there.  What a blessed thing it is to be in a place where you have nothing except the promises of God to hold on to.  This is waiting on the Lord.  This is faith.  It is trust.  It is hope.  And I sense even right now that being in that place is a holy, holy place to be.

However, it does not always "feel" holy or sacred.  Sometimes it feels scary.  I am sure that the people of God felt fear at times during those 400 years.  They went through terrible things, and I imagine they wondered, "God where are you?"  The waiting place can feel like betrayal.  As in, "God I thought you would be here by now, or do this by now, and you haven't.  I put my trust in you and it hasn't worked out like I thought it would.  You let me down."  That's just being honest right there. 

There are many temptations in the place of waiting.  Temptation to doubt God, to doubt his goodness, to doubt his power, to doubt his love, to doubt that he's listening or cares.  Temptation to feel discouragement, self pity, or anger.  Temptation to blame others, or ourselves.  Or how about the temptation to get out of the waiting place and try to come up with what we think we need on our own?

Yet, God calls us to the waiting place.  He doesn't place us in a dark room by ourselves.  We are NOT being punished.  No, in the waiting place is where, if we will still ourselves and focus on him, we can see that he is still there.  He holds our hand.  He sits with us.  He doesn't offer answers or explanations, but he whispers, "I am here."  The waiting place may be dark, but so is the womb.  It can be a place of growth and development, if we allow it to be.  And, just the like the womb, the waiting will not last forever.  In due time, God will bring about what he has promised. 

The 400 years the people of God waited was all so that at just the right time the messiah would be born.  It was not because God was callous to their cries.  It was not because they hadn't mustered enough faith yet or made themselves worthy enough yet.  It was because of the purposes of God.

There may be an area of your life right now where you feel like God is silent.  You may feel like there is a circumstance in which God has left you in the waiting place.  I cannot gaurantee for you what the outcome of that situation will be, but I can guarantee that if you will allow the waiting place to be where you draw nearer to God and more dependent on him, you will be in the exact right place to receive the answer you are looking for.

Believe for your miracle.  Trust in God and his promises.  Lean into hope and faith.  Press into prayer.  Serve others.  Most of all, make sure your heart is set on pursuing God- not just on getting the answers you want.  His highest goal for you is to make you more like Jesus, because in so doing you become a light to draw more people back to the Father.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:27-31

For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end  and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come
and will not delay.
Habakkuk 2:3

I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. 
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27: 13-14

Commit your way to the Lord; 
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him
Psalm 37: 6-7

We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33: 20-22

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
    I wait for God my Savior;
    my God will hear me.
Micah 7:7

God Bless You,
Lisa