Waiting

"Be patient, be patient, don't be in such a hurry
When you get impatient, you only start to worry
Remember, remember, that God is patient too
And think of all the times when others had to wait for you"

Those were they lyrics from a record i had as a little kid called The Music Machine. They still float around inside of my head when i'm being impatient... but have you ever had to wait on something? ... i mean REALLY wait for something or somebody?

For me the Lord asked me to wait 30 years before he brought the right kind of godly man into my life that i would fall in love with and marry.

I often think of the Israelites in the desert and the 40 years they had to wait before entering the promised land... it makes me wonder if 'waiting' is always punishment or a result of disobedience... (see Numbers 14:33-34, Joshua 5:6)

But as i search God's word i find other verses that talk about waiting on God too, only in a different kind of way:

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

...but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles...
Isiah 40:31

These verses seem to connect waiting for the LORD with "being strong" (or rather growing in strength or renewing strength).  A truth from the verse in the Psalms in particular struck me a few years back... waiting is not easy! If it were there would be no reason for the encouragement thrown in between the two "Wait for the LORD" parts... but there it is: be strong and take heart! I love that. And even more i love that the source of our strength when we wait on Him comes not from 'within us' but from the LORD himself!

This time i'm not waiting for a husband... but for a baby. Yes, baby Taylor #2 was due 3 days ago (July 15th) and it is hard at this point not to not feel like "I'm going to be pregnant forever!" (especially because Lucas was 5 days early!)

So we wait for the LORD... the giver of life.
We wait for our son... a gift from the Father of lights.
And we trust and hope in Him who alone can give us the strength to WAIT.