Agony or Peace in Waiting

Do you remember when you were a child, how hard it was waiting for Christmas? October and November seemed to be the longest months of the year. Would Christmas ever arrive? The wait was a mixture of excitement and frustration. Imagine your parents, noticing your anxiousness, decide to go ahead and give you all your presents in October. That might be fun, but what would happen on Christmas Day? All around you families would be laughing, sharing gifts, but you? Nothing. Wouldn’t that have been a sad event. Timing is important.

It’s no different in our spiritual world. I often take comfort from Isaiah 30:18, The Lord will wait that He may be gracious to you (NKJV). Just recently, someone I know was looking for another job. The one she had became impossible for many reasons. She sent out applications for one job after another. She was well qualified and experienced, interviews went well, but she didn’t get the jobs. She was growing in great frustration and asked me why God would not help her.

I asked her what exactly she was praying for God to do? In aggravation she answered, “to give me a job!” I asked if she trusted Him. “It’s getting harder each day,” she said through tears. That’s when I shared Isaiah 30:18 with her, and I encouraged her to fill her mind, not with thoughts of her present, uncomfortable situation, but upon the blessings God has poured upon her throughout her days. I told her, “remember and praise Him for all His blessings that come to your mind.”

A few days later she phoned to tell me her anxiety was growing less. Peace had entered her thoughts. “I still don’t have a job,” she said, “but I feel a fresh trust in Him during the waiting.” It was three months later that she was offered a job. She phoned with the news and said, “I learned something else in the waiting. It wasn’t just learning to trust God in His timing, but I began to enjoy His company again like I haven’t in a long time.”

Life can be so busy, so fraught, so full of daily challenges. We tell friends about it, spend time with them for a nice distraction. We share with family and plan a day out to have some fun in escaping the current problem lurking in the back of our minds. We do all sorts of things to relieve our worries, when really, to accomplish that there is only one necessary thing — to spend intentional time in the presence of the One Who loves you and understands you like no one else is able.

The Lord waits that He may be gracious to you, not in simply giving you what you want or even need, but in reminding you of the sheer joy of spending time with Him. When we stray, as unintentional as it may be, He will allow what is necessary to bring us back into His embrace. Are you waiting for something? Are you praying for it to happen NOW? Are you frightened of what an outcome may be? Are you weakening by the moment? Go to Him right now. Sit in His presence. He will always be gracious. He will give you rest, and peace, and quiet assurance.

Don’t delay. Go to Him now. Tell Him you are waiting with Him. Trust and peace will grow.