Why the Wait?

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 40:31 NASB

But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. - Psalms 37:9 NASB

This morning I was reading in a book I downloaded to my Kindle called "God's Gonna Make You Laugh: Understanding God's Timing for Your Life" by Noel Jones.  In it, the author pointed out something that I have never thought of in quite the same way before.  He suggests that when God's answer to us is "wait", there is an important reason for it - and that reason is NOT for us to just sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for God to act!  It is to give us time to prepare to receive the blessing he intends for us, and usually means we have some serious work to do!  Hmmm . . . .

So often I have wished that there was a "quick fix" for the challenges in my life.  I KNOW God can work miracles.  I've seen Him do it from time to time.  Why doesn't He just step in and FIX my challenge NOW?  We live in a society that is really into quick fixes.  That's why, for example, those of us who carry extra weight on our bodies are bombarded with messages about this or that pill which will fix it - sometimes even going as far as to say "without exercising or changing the way you eat"!  And yet, I've seen the stories of people who, for example, have gastric bypass surgery, lose the weight, and then gain it back and then some. The same thing happens in the financial realm.  How often do we hear of the "quick fix" of winning the lottery leaving someone in worse financial shape in just a few short years than they were when they won all that money? If we focus only on the "quick fix" with no REAL change, the issue remains.

Do I really want a "quick fix" that doesn't last?  Or do I want the miracle of a permanent solution?  God really DOES know best!  But how often have I missed the point by not asking myself WHY answers to prayer are taking so long and exactly what God is saying my next step is.  If I KNOW, for example, that to live in a healthy way I need to eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly, why would I expect God to answer prayers for healing if I'm not yet willing to do so?  Or if I KNOW that budgeting is important for financial health, why would I expect God to suddenly gift me with an influx of money that He knows I'm not yet ready to handle?  God wants to HEAL me, in whatever area of life I need that healing.  Whether it's finances, relationships, health, employment, or whatever else, He doesn't want to just toss the counterfeit of a quick fix at me!  Thank you, God!

So, when I find something important seems to be taking way too long to come my way, or I'm feeling unhappy about all the things that are "going wrong" in my life, perhaps it's time to ask God, "Why the wait?  What is it that I need to be working on to prepare myself."  Jesus said,

And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. - Matthew 21:22 NASU

I've heard spiritual teachers suggest that believing means "acting as if " we've received it until we do.  I'm thinking that while that is indeed the case, sometimes there's more to it.  If we are talking about health, for example, we need to appreciate the health we currently have by treating our bodies with the respect they deserve - feeding them only in healthy ways and exercising them in a way that best takes care of them, preparing ourselves to take care of the fully healthy bodies God will be gifting us with.  If we are talking about finances, we need to recognize and appreciate the resources we currently have, and make the best possible use of them, preparing ourselves to better handle increased wealth.  When a family is looking forward to the birth of a new baby, for example, there are things to DO during those 9 months of waiting!  The best parents-to-be take those nine months to educate themselves about how to care for an infant, prepare the home for its arrival (child proofing, setting up the nursery, getting necessary supplies), sort out the best caregiving options (including emergency backup), etc. 

What if, when I ask God for a gift, I look forward to it with the same sort of excitement and anticipation a pregnant couple has when they have been longing for a child?  What if I do the work to ensure that the gift God has promised (and that verse in Matthew certainly IS an amazing promise!), will be appreciated and made use of in the best possible way - that I am READY to receive it?  How would my life change?

Father, thank you for your amazing promises to me.  And thank you for understanding that spoiling me with gifts that I am not ready to handle is really not a gift at all.  Thank you for caring enough about me to encourage me to do the necessary work of preparation so that your gifts will bring about the permanent changes that will bring me all the joy you want me to experience in my life!  I love you, Father!

Be My Love

With Valentine's Day in the middle of February, LOVE is a focus this month.  This morning I've been doing some reading that really helped me understand in greater depth the importance and value of love.

My morning journey towards deeper love started with this verse in 2nd Timothy:

"Meditate on Jesus, the Messiah, who was raised from the dead and is a descendant of David." - II Tim. 2:8  (International Standard Version)

 As I often do, I started looking up key words in original language to see what I might uncover.  What I found was not something new at all, but something I just hadn't thought about before.  The King James Version says Jesus is of the "seed of David".  I have looked up the meaning of the name David before, but just had never thought about it in this context.  The name means "love" - and clearly Jesus' very essence, the seed from which He comes, is LOVE.  We see it throughout the account of His life, and we see it in our own lives as we draw closer to Him.

I then found myself reading in Hosea where a couple of verses really stood out to me:

"'It will come about at that time', declares the Lord, 'that you will address me as 'My husband,' and you will no longer call me 'My master''." Hosea 2:16

 What a beautiful thing!!!!  A promise that we will move from a picture of God as this powerful being that we must obey 'or else', to seeing Him as lover, protector, friend!  How amazing is that?   I am very grateful that in the midst of a society where love is fleeting and marriage so often ends in divorce, I have been blessed with a husband who truly loves me and wants what is best for me.  This helps me understand the relationship that God wants to have with me.  I know my husband's amazing love is only a shadow of what God's love is like!

Continuing on, the next verse reads:

"I will remove the names of the Baals from her vocabulary - they will not be remembered by their names anymore." Hosea 2:17

What a picture this gives me!  Personally, I have really struggled with that "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me" commandment.  I WANT to put God first, but too often the "desires of the flesh" get in my way.  For me it is often about food, and my lack of self-discipline in that area has resulted in increased weight and health issues that are troublesome to say the least!  What a promise this verse is for me!  God will not only take away my desires for these "other gods" but I won't even remember them!!!

As I think about this verse, I see that as I come to understand and accept God's love for me and allow it to permeate my being - as I really come to see him as my lover, my protector, and my friend - my HUSBAND! - the "infatuations" I've had about other 'gods' are clearly seen for the fakes that they are.  Their tarnished images hold NO appeal any more as I now have the genuine thing!  What an amazing promise!  What an amazing way to live!

Father, I NEED this experience in my life.  This clearly is what saves me from the death that my infatuation with food leads me towards.  Thank you for giving me a loving husband who helps me understand something of your love for me.  I look forward to getting to know you even better as I move from calling YOU "master" to calling YOU "husband"!  That is such an amazing concept!  And no, it doesn't feel the least incestuous, even though I call you Father. I realize that part of what I've needed in a relationship with you is part of what many women find in their husbands - a "father figure" and I think of how often a partner refers to their spouse as "Baby" as a term of endearment.  That protective caring "fatherly" love is just one part of a loving husband, though.  As long as I relate to you only as "my Father" or "my Master" I am missing out on SO much in my relationship with you.  I look forward to continuing our courtship and the memory of any other "gods" being entirely removed as I come to better understand and accept your love for me. Thank you, Father, for your words to me:

"I will make you my wife forever - I will make you my wife in a way that is righteous, in a manner that is just, by a love that is gracious, and by a motive that is mercy.  I will make you my wife because of my faithfulness, and you will know the Lord."  Hosea 2:19 & 20.   

Where is the Joy?

I've been sick for the last several days - getting better but still not back up to full energy.  This means that my energy is running out LONG before my to do list!  As I was contemplating that this morning and asking God how to keep my focus on joy instead of my to do list, He reminded me of how simple it really is as I remembered David's words in the Psalms:

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence" -- Psalms 16:11 NIV

Thank you, Father for such a wonderful promise!  I seek a more complete awareness of your presence with me each day and a more complete infilling of that joy you've promised.  Father, I AM grateful for all you have done and are doing in my life!  Thank you for all the opportunities before me.  And thank you for the way you "keep everything running right" (Ps 119:164)  Thank you for the gratitude I feel as you gently remind me to let you shoulder the burdens in my life.  And thank you for the JOY as I feel your presence at work in my life.  Truly, Father, as the song says, "How Great Thou Art!"