Waiting on the Lord
Waiting on the Lord
There is no way around it: Waiting is part of every breathing person’s destiny. We wait for changes to take place in our life on a physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual level. We all desire change for the better but everything must take place on God’s time table and in His will. As humans, we tend to plan out our future according to our wishes, forgetting about what the Lord’s specific plans are for us. Fruitfulness can be established during the challenges of prolonged waiting if you are waiting on the Lord. Isaiah 40:31 (KJV) says “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength…” Without this empowering, we will become weary, depressed and impatient.
As a young Christian girl and growing teenager, I wanted to get married more than anything else. I hoped, in vain selfishness that I would grow old enough to experience this milestone before Christ returned. Does that sound familiar to anyone? God loves weddings and marriage. He designed them, but He jealously wants to remain our first love. My heart was easily distracted by the attention of my potential husband when we met. I idolized being a couple while we were dating and engaged. We attended church together, prayed and did devotions regularly, but my personal relationship with my Saviour started to wane. Looking back, it is so clear to see where my desire and affections were truly.
Things progressed quickly for us and I didn’t have to wait very long before I was married, just 2 months before my 20th birthday. Within the first year of being a newly wed, I quickly realized how much effort and work marriage was. Adjusting was hard until I started to strip away my selfishness. I turned to the Lord and learned about things I thought I already knew – like true love. Love is not just a feeling! With my Bible open and a pen in my prayer journal, the Holy Spirit started to expose my sin and fill me with truth.
Now after being married for over 12 years, and becoming a parent, more than anything, I want to teach my daughters to yearn for Jesus Christ as their spiritual bridegroom. To be equally yoked with a perfect husband and to be found pure and blameless in His presence; that sounds like the very best of happily ever after endings. Before sin stained the human heart, Adam and Eve enjoyed a perfect marriage in the Garden of Eden. We all need Jesus to redeem us from our fallen state and to restore us to holiness. The Bible calls this the consummation of the church.
During this present dispensation of Church history, for close to 2000 years, all Bible believing Christians have been faithfully waiting for the return of Christ Jesus. This glorious, everlasting union between my Saviour and myself has become a focal point in my personal devotions since I’ve been married. In sincerity, I am waiting for all things to be made new; to wear a sparkling, white wedding gown, to hear my new name called out by the one who created my soul, to partake in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, to dance and sing in worship in the presence of Jesus, my King, What a majestic celebration it will be!
Some of you have been longing for something to happen in your earthy life for years. Every person kind of expects to wait for a reasonable amount of time. But what if the wait seems much longer than you ever expected? The children of Israel wandered from place to place camping in the dessert for 40 years after they were delivered from Egypt. I believe that God had a purpose in making them wait. It disciplined them to follow His direction and it also tested their character exposing the idols within their hearts. A whole generation of grumblers passed away before they could possess the promise land. God showed them how He would miraculously provide for them through this period. He wanted them to experience the challenges and share the stories of their faith through hardships with their future descendants so they would all know He was the one true God.
Faith means you believe in something you can’t see. If we want to grow in our faith, we must persevere in times of waiting until we are at a point where we can worship God through it. This process might be extremely painful and often takes the form of suffering. Our soul cries out in frustration because of the desires in our inmost being. Is what we want in alignment with what God wants for us? A beautiful verse my mother often wrote and recited for me rings true. “Take delight in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart” Psalm 37:4 (NIV). I also find strength in the 23rd Psalm. Over and over again, I must lay down my wants and trust in the Lord’s leading for the restoration of my spirit.
My husband is a dear friend and a strong spiritual leader for me. Without a doubt, I know God wanted us to be together. I am very thankful for what I have learned through this earthly marriage, but I must still pursue an active connection with Christ as my spiritual bridegroom. May we all be found ready to meet Him face to face.
Monday, August 22, 2011