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Learning
in Waiting Do you ever feel like you've been pushed as far as you can go? Like your faith can't take another hit? As if you've done all you know to do to serve the Lord and it just isn't enough? Probably any of us who have been in the faith for very long can say, "Been there, done that; don't even want the tee-shirt!" How easy it is sometimes to grow discouraged! We struggle to follow the path of the Lord and yet that struggle leads to hardship and hurts and pains. There are days I just want to stand in my yard and scream "WHY?!" How about you? Ever feel that way? Scott and I have been in a real test of our faith for the past 18 months. We have been earnestly praying that God will grant our desire for children. We've had test after test and highs and lows. We've seen all kinds of doctors and identified the problem and had injections and given blood. We've been referred to endocrinologists and now we've been referred to an infertility specialist. We're tired and we're hurting and we don't understand. After all, one of God's first commands to Adam and Eve was to "be fruitful and multiply." That's what we want! Our hearts' desire is to be parents. I've spent hours crying out to the Father asking why and when and how! I've begged and pleaded. I've claimed Scriptures. I've done all I know to do. And now, I wait. And oh, that waiting is the hardest part. That's not something I'm very good at, to be honest. I don't have a whole lot of patience or longsuffering or any other attribute in that family! I guess I'm a real product of the fast-food, do-it-yourself, microwavable, 70-mph speed limit culture in which we live. Gladys M. Hunt writes, " 'Hope deferred makes the heart sick,' says Proverbs 13:12. Believing that God will do what He says is quite different from waiting for Him to do it. Waiting is hard, but believing while waiting is harder still." How very true! For so many of us, we do believe that all things are possible through Christ - as long as those things happen when we want them to happen. But when God's answer to our prayers is "Wait" well, that 's when our belief falters. That's when we start to try out our own plans. We rationalize that God wants us to pursue all options. We begin to believe in our own abilities and technologies and answers and we lose sight of the One who first heard our cries. But I'm learning, more and more each day, that it is in the waiting that we can see Who God is. For it is in those days of trusting and being faithful to His tasks that our faith grows and matures. I think Paul must have been in a waiting time when he penned the words, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14) Pressing on - that's what it takes sometimes. We have to just grit our teeth, put a smile on our face, and keep going! You see, it's often the struggles and the waiting that give us the endurance to run fully God's race. And it's in the waiting that God can teach us to depend on Him more completely. The question many of us must answer is this - Do I really want to depend completely on Christ to fulfill me? For many, the answer will be no. For in being completely dependent on Him, we must be content even in the waiting times to be faithful to His leadership. We must submit to His will - regardless of our own desires. That's not an easy place to get to. But, what joy when we arrive there! What joy to be able to say, "I have placed my heart and life in the hand of the Father! And I am content to rest there!" That's my prayer for each new day. That I will become more and more content to rest in His hand. That I will be faithful regardless of the situations around me. That my joy will be found in doing His will. And that He will continue to transform me into His image. Oh holy Father! Thank
you for your grace and peace. In Your Son's name, We need articles, poetry and
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