Wait for Your God Always

Waiting is definitely not my strong suit! In fact, I suffer from a terrible case of impatience and am forever asking God to help me learn to truly wait on Him. I have been blessed and encouraged in the way He has kept me strong to wait on Him for eleven years, for the mate that HE would choose for me; but now that His choice has been made, I confess my impatience has reared its head again, and I have been sorely tempted to just get on with the wedding!

This past week we began to feel overwhelmed with many others (including our own children)who were writing or calling to say, "What are you waiting for? Just get married!" Was this a temptation of the enemy to step out of God's will and His timing for us - or was it indeed the Voice of the Spirit, giving us permission to move things along more quickly? I pondered this question of "waiting on God" all week. Several scriptures and scenarios came to mind:

Hosea 12:6: "But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always."

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

Psalm 130:5: "I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope."

I revisited the Scriptures in Genesis 16 about Abraham's wife, Sarah. Even though she and her husband had been promised a son, Sarah got tired of waiting on God. She devised her own plan to move things along - and we all know the difficult circumstances her plan produced, which continue even today as the descendents of Ishmael and Isaac are still at war with one another.

In contrast, I spent some time in 1 Samuel 1, considering the similar plight of Hannah. Though she was barren, Hannah continued to pray and wait on the Lord to open her womb in His perfect time. Verse 20 reads, "So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I asked the Lord for him.'" In the course of time? How long was this "course of time" before Hannah conceived? We are not told - but what we can be sure of is that it was the exact time the Lord had planned for her; and her willingness to wait resulted in the birth of a son whom she consecrated over to the Lord. As we know, Samuel became one of the great prophets of God!

In light of all this, I decided to put a fleece before the Lord regarding our wedding date. I prayed and asked Him that if the church had an open weekend for a wedding in January, we would know we had His consent to move the wedding date up. If not, we would know our February date was HIS timing, and we would wait. The church secretary responded immediately; no January date was available. Upon receiving this information, my heart quieted and total shalom enveloped me. "How good it is," I thought, "to wait upon the Lord. As we are printing on the front of our wedding program, "Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall soar as on wings of eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). Yes. I will be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. His timing is indeed always perfect!