One day I will WAIT...

“I live with the reality that God JUST MIGHT want me to be single my whole life,” I said to five college girls, all who are single. I hope you don’t hear sarcasm in my statement because it isn’t there. That was a real statement. So real, that it was responded to like this…

“If God don’t bring me a husband, I will have to find one myself.” The gasps from the girls around her could have been heard inside the Arby’s next door. How could she say such a thing? Would she really try to thwart God’s plan like that? That is SO not a church thing to say. It was like I could hear their thoughts. Upon seeing the reaction of her peers, her face changed. She knew that she had obviously said something wrong. Until I jumped back into the conversation by stating, “Oh please. She just said out loud what all of us have thought. And most of us have acted on.” Their faces changed, as did their thoughts – I’m sure- because the conversation took a turn. The other four girls clearly meant no harm. The gasps probably would have been anyone's reaction to such a bold statement. But I'm glad this conversation happened, because it caused me to ponder... 

We don’t admit it as bluntly as this girl did, no “good” Christian would, but we certainly act on it. Every time we manipulate our schedule or the schedule of someone else so that we ‘bump’ into them… every time we throw out sly comments beefing up our resume because we are around just the right people … Every time we stress ourselves out over finances, and skip tithe this month because we just can’t afford it. We might as well just come out and say it, “If God don’t bring me a _____________, I will have to find it myself.” You fill in the blank.

So what do we do in the mean time? Maybe you thought you would have a husband or wife by now. Maybe you thought you would have kids by now. Maybe some of you thought you would be more financially secure by now. Maybe you thought you would have moved to another city, or gotten that promotion, or maybe you thought you would be retired and ‘sitting pretty’ by now. But God just didn’t deliver the way you thought He should. Well, speaking of the church answer- I could choose to believe the default answer that well-meaning people give which is, “Honey, God will bring you a ______ in His time. And His timing is perfect.” Although they are correct, what am I supposed to do until then? What do we do …while we wait?

Those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles;  they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14

For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who wait on the LORD will inherit the land. 

Psalm 37:9

Pause there.

I think we have this misconception that waiting for God’s perfect timing on __(your fill in the blank)__ means that our life starts once we get it. Oh, how wrong we are. One of my favorite pastor’s used this illustration one time… Look at it like this:

He said one time he went to his favorite upscale restaurant. The service there was fantastic. Anytime he even thought about needing something, there was the waiter holding it. If he started to need butter, there was the server with… butter. If he needed splenda, there was the server with… splenda. He said that restaurant was nothing like his other favorite restaurant, Waffle House. At Waffle House, the same person does everything. Takes your order, yells it out, cooks it, cleans tables, and the bathroom, and serves your food. If you need butter, you ask fourteen times before you get it. He said that our response to God should look like the server at the first restaurant.

So, we ask what we are supposed to do while we wait? It looks to me, that we wait. We wait on the Lord like the server at the first restaurant waited on my favorite pastor. Oh, you need a missionary, God? Great! Send me while I wait for a husband. What’s that God, you want me to talk to that co-worker about you today? Done, while I wait for that promotion. Can I get you anything else, God? Can I do anything else for you today – or the rest of my life?

When we can STOP trying to fill in our own blanks, but instead wait on the Lord and his perfect timing, because it is so perfect, then we can fully experience the waiting period the way He wants us to.

Read these scriptures again. This time with the mindset of waiting for the Lord isn’t really what we call waiting, but instead …  serving.  

Those who wait on the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14

For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who wait on the LORD will inherit the land. 

Psalm 37:9
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On another note, these sweet babies are angels. God assigned them to me and I believe that with all my heart. Why close a door that THE God of the Universe has opened, I always say :)

I caught them watching Beauty and the Beast 

Brian has my heart 

Sweet Asia 

Brian was too afraid of the puppy to let anyone put him down. 

Which is okay, because we can't get enough of holding him :)

MeKayla wanted to help cook

This was, obviously, before we got him strapped in good. This silly thing is a mess.