Becky Crenshaw

Waiting.

I am not a woman who is naturally inclined to wait.

My daddy says I shot out of the womb wondering what we were going to do next.

Let’s get movin’.

We live in a culture that nurtures our natural tendency for instant gratification.

Fast food. High speed Internet. 70 MPH Interstates. Books on line. TV On Demand. Iphones. Online shopping. Overnight shipping. One day surgery. One minute clinics.

Even a target associate will help you in less than 60 seconds.

However, we do still have call waiting. But you better hurry up and click over. Or I’ll hang up.
I don’t want to wait too long.

But what happens when we don’t have a choice? We have to wait – On water to boil. On a red light to change. On a test result. On the market to improve. On an interview call back. On an orphan overseas. On our soul mate.

The word WAIT occurs 101 times in the Bible.
The word WAITING 21 times.
The word WAITED 35.

Lots and lots of waiting.

But why? Couldn’t the Lord just say the word and make it happen? Why wait? He is All Powerful, right??

Right.

But what happens when we wait? What is He trying to accomplish?

Simply speaking, maybe God wants us to appreciate what He gives us.

Christmas morning, we appreciate our gifts all the more because we asked for them, looked forward to them and waited.

Last year, Grant asked EVERYDAY for two months for the LEGO Star Wars Republic Attack Shuttle. E v e r y d a y. If I went out and bought it for him on any random Monday, the gift would have been common. But, no, Grant needed to wait for that special Christmas morning.

What did he learn in the wait? Patience. Endurance. Persistence.

Grant learned that he could trust me to listen to his request.

Waiting builds trust. Waiting builds strength. Waiting builds courage.

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

Wait: (Quavah) To look for eagerly. To hope. To lie in wait. To linger. To expect anything.

We can trust God to hear our request. We can expect anything from him. Our hope can rest in Him. We can lie down – rest a spell. Linger and eagerly look for the Lord…waiting.

Be strong here is used not of physical strength, but of the mind. God strengthens our mind while we wait on Him.

Let your heart take courage – once again used of the mind. It takes courage to trust in the unseen. To hope. Waiting with undaunted courage.

Undaunted: courageously resolute especially in the face of danger or difficulty : not discouraged.

Undaunted waiting in an act of the Holy Spirit. I can’t do this in my own strength.

The Lord allows us to exercise our faith in the wait. To exercise strength and courage. To practice trusting Him. To practice rest. To practice patience.

Patience is waiting well.

What an opportunity waiting gives us to expect of Him. To linger in His presence. Waiting courageously. Hoping with undaunted faith in the One who is worthy of our trust.

This blog is not in theory for me. There is an area of my life that I have been in a season of wait for over eight months. Waiting and watching, every single day, several times a day, for the Lord’s answer to manifest. It is hard. But I am thankful for the trust, courage and strength He is building in me. I would NOT trade it.

I do not doubt him. I know he is working on my behalf.

And I look forward, in faith, to that Christmas morning like gift from him. Whenever that is.

His timing is always perfection.

If you, too, are waiting, know today that the eye of the Lord is on you. As is His great love. Let us rejoice with the Psalmist and pray:

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Psalm 33:18, 20-22