Wait for it.....

We spend one third of our life waiting. We wait in line at the groceries, we wait in traffic, we wait at the post office, and how about waiting at a doctor's office. "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him" those are the words I hear. Seems simple enough, right. In a society where we wait for nothing it's nearly impossible to be still and wait, although it can be done.

As a kid I had the most fun while waiting, well while my parents waited. I remember waiting to cross the bridge from Juarez, while my parents were frustrated waiting, the kids had fun singing, counting cars, and eating ice cream from the bridge vendors. Moving forward 20 years to when my mother was first diagnosed with cancer we spent three weeks in the hospital waiting room and a lot of those moments were the best times we had as a family. We cried, we laughed, we fought, we held our children close, and we prayed together while we were waiting.

Waiting is obedience. There is a relief in waiting for the Lord because it takes off all the worry in us and places in the only place it should be, in our Father's hands. There is no place safer. I have learned more in the waiting periods than when I am in church, bible study, or everyday life. Waiting and being still causes us to look up, the only place we should be looking. It has made me look to the Word for peace and it makes me pray which in turn brings me closer to God. It places our trust in Him, Job prayed, "If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come."

There is a reason God tells us to wait, there is power in waiting. Over and over God had his people wait on Him and every time they were saved. There is so much to learn from Job, he waited and endured faithfully and in the end "the LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first." Why is it that we are so impatient when it comes to waiting on God? If we knew we were going to get a million dollars and the only stipulation was to wait, would we wait? Of course we would, so why can't we be still and wait when God can offer us so much more than a million dollars? He offers us eternal life, peace, joy, and to supply all our needs.

Believe me it's not easy, we are human and in a society where we rush in the morning, rush to work, rush the kids to school, and then rush home at night; being still is something we have to learn. It's something we have to make into a habit. When we let go of the life we planned, when we let go of the circumstances around us, and we begin to accept the plan God has us waiting on for our lives we will be blessed. A good friend reminds me all the time, "We don't see the big picture but He does, so wait."
We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20

Marisol