“Wait”…that four-letter word

Its been a little over 5 years ago that I started this little blog.  I started it about a year after my Momma and Carl were killed in a tragic accident.  And I named this little space after Momma’s nickname: Sugar Lump (which was later shortened to “Wumpy”);  given to her by her daddy right after she was born.  

More than anything, I’ve wanted this blog to be a place where you can come and get encouraged;  to see that there actually is something good and sweet (just like that sugar lump) in the hard time you’re in.  

Believe me, I’ve had to do a whole lot of practicing what I “preach.”  And don’t think I just naturally see the good in my trials.  It doesn’t come easy for me either.  I’ve buried my 5 year old son then moved to Canada 3 months later.  We’ve had people turn against us and try to ruin our family.  We’ve struggled financially.  Both my mom and my dad died suddenly, only 6 years apart.  Our family has had serious health problems.  I’ve struggled with depression.  I continue to work through PTSD.  And by God’s grace, I keep pushing myself even when I don’t feel like pushing.  

I think it’s safe to say that we’d all admit that life is hard.  (Or like one preacher said to me, “Life sucks but God is good.” Amen?!!).  And I think it’s also safe to say that, when life is hard, it’s generally not our first reaction to stop and try to find what’s good or sweet in it.   Instead, we’re looking for things to get better and the sun to start shining again, before we can see any good or sweetness.  

But often, God doesn’t work like that, as we know from lives we observe in the Bible.

We all know the story of Joseph and how God gave him some pretty amazing promises in his youth.  But then he was sold by his very own brothers, falsely accused, thrown in prison and forgotten – the exact opposite of what he heard from God earlier in his life.

Daniel was captured and eventually thrown in the lion’s den for his stand for his God, not knowing he would be spared from certain death.

Then there’s Esther – her parents are dead and she is being raised by her uncle; then she puts her life on the line to try to save her people.

And Ruth.  Her young husband dies and her bitter mother in law tells her to go back to her family and remarry.  Ruth chooses instead to go with Naomi to a land she’s not really welcome to, and she ends up working in a field, gathering what was left over from the reapers.

Yet these 4, among many others in the Bible, chose to keep their eyes on the Lord their God, and not on their circumstances.  Regardless of what things “looked” like.  Regardless of how they felt.  Regardless of what others were saying.  And not because they knew it was going to turn out ok.  

“Good things come to those who wait.”  

This quote is all fine and dandy until we have to put it to practice.

We all start off being “wait haters,” after all.  There’s not one child that I know of that loves to be told to wait.

Right from the beginning, children have to: Wait to be fed, wait to have their diaper changed, wait to talk to their mom until she’s done talking on the phone.  Wait to eat their dessert until everyone is served.  Wait in the car with daddy for an hour while mommy grabs “bread and milk.”  Wait until they’re old enough to date, or drive a car.  And how many times have they asked “are we there yet” since we left for a trip…10 minutes ago?!!  

So, naturally, as we reach adulthood, we still don’t want to wait.  (enter: Amazon Prime!!)

We have to wait at the doctor’s office.  We have to wait in line at the store.  We have to wait at red lights, in traffic jams and through road construction. We have to wait for news from the doctor.  We have to wait to hear if we are approved for that loan.

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting.

Anyone else out there get tired of waiting??  (I see that hand.)

Sometimes the waiting is as simple as waiting for a scab to heal, but we find ourselves picking at it and now we have the scar there to remind us of our impatience.

Reading through Exodus we shake our heads at the children of Israel and how impatient and slow to learn they were.

But we’re like them more than we think.

Psalm 81:13-16

Oh that my people had hearkened unto me,

and Israel had walked in my ways!

I should soon have subdued their enemies,

and turned my hand against their adversaries.

The haters of the LORD should have

submitted themselves unto him:

but their time should have endured for ever.

He should have fed them also with

the finest of the wheat: and

with honey out of the rock

should I have satisfied thee.

A few verses previous, the Lord is telling them to open their mouth wide and He would fill it.  God wanted to FILL their mouth – their lives –  with good things.  With the finest of the wheat and with honey, from a rock…a hard place, no less!!

 

But they got tired of waiting.  They quit walking in God’s ways.  And they obviously kept trying to fight their enemies on their own, because in verse 14 the Lord says He would have taken care of that for them, too.

Oh, what we miss when we don’t wait on our God. And oh what we miss when we forget (or refuse) to see His goodness and sweetness in those hard times we all face.

The choice is ours, my friend. Choose to wait on God and His timing, and choose to see His goodness. It’s there. Keep digging!

Cheering you on!