THE WAITING GAME

Hurry Up And Wait!

When I was a little girl, (back in the dark ages), we would write our names and date on the top of every page. We couldn’t wait until the year would change, and we would pass on to the next grade when summer break was over. We couldn’t wait until the summer break, getting to play all day and no homework, school, or teachers! Three quarters of the way through summer, we couldn’t wait for school to begin, so we could get our new shoes and school supplies. Once school started we couldn’t wait until Halloween so we would get a break from school, and go ‘trick or treating’ for UNICEF. The next day we went for the good stuff, the candy and toys! Then, back at school, where we couldn’t wait until Christmas break so we could shop, play in the snow, and celebrate Christmas. We couldn’t wait until Santa came, we couldn’t wait to see what he had brought us. Then we couldn’t wait until New Years Eve, because it was the only time we were ever allowed to stay up all night!
Do you see a pattern developing here? Think about your life, what did you yearn for, and for what did you wish and wait? Were you anxious for your senior year to end, so you could go to college? Did you go to college or start a career, and then couldn’t wait for the next stage of your life to start? Did you meet a boy or girl friend? Did you make plans to get married? Planning the wedding can take what seems like an eternity, and you just couldn’t wait for the day to come to finally be united in Holy Matrimony. Then as you plan your life, you wait for your first child to be born, and then you can’t wait until they say their first word. Then you can’t wait for the first step, etc.. We spend our whole life in a sense of suspension or anticipation. We are always waiting for the next step, stage or thing to happen. We think everything we wait for will be better than what we just experienced, or lived through. Why do we find ourselves always waiting? Could it be because we do not find fulfillment in what we have at the moment? We all long for that excitement of anticipation, and try to capture it in many ways, some very unhealthy. People turn to drink, drugs and even the internet to find the next thing they are waiting for to bring them fulfillment.
For the past twenty nine days I have sat at the bedside of my brother, waiting for him to get better, for a diagnosis and a plan for recovery. I have been impatient, determined and disillusioned. My trouble was I was waiting on Doctors, Nurses and test results, instead of waiting on the LORD! He knew what was happening and what His plan was all along, but I had other things in mind. In the end, the LORD waited on me to be ready to let my brother Dexter go to heaven. He gave me the strength and understanding of His will, to know what was best for Dexter. Even Dexter knew because he had already waited on the LORD, and was confident in God’s plan, but I wasn’t there yet.
I find myself waiting again, this time for Dexter to take his last breath, but now, because I have waited for the LORD to reveal His will in Dexter’s life, I have the strength to ‘let go and let GOD’ have HIS will. Because Dexter came to know the LORD as his own personal SAVIOUR, we know he will have eternal life with CHRIST, where Dexter found his strength.

As parents, I can not stress enough, to teach your children the Bible, and the promises therein. Teach them to wait upon the LORD for their strength and fulfilment. Worldly things all will pass, only what is done for CHRIST will last!

We as authors are given the opportunity to pass on the good news that there is a life worth living, that will bring joy, fulfilment, and satisfaction. What we do with that opportunity is up to each one of us. What will be your legacy? Will you encourage people to run after things of this world that will never satisfy, or to wait upon the LORD for renewed strength, hope, love and eternal life?

Psalms 27:14 – Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Isaiah 40:31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.
Psalms 37:7-9 – Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Psalms 37:34 – Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
Psalms 130:5 – I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
Psalms 25:5-9 – Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.