Wait for It

"If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." (Habakkuk 2:3) I have seen God's promises having read God's word. I have arranged my prayers accordingly and now I wait, but waiting is hard. I pray concerning things that are beyond my control. I pray concerning things that hurt my heart.

As I wait I ask the God of hope to fill me with all joy and peace in believing. I am bound by time. I see what is presented to me and sometimes what I see steals my joy and robs me of peace. I need something beyond myself so I cry out and ask that the power of the Holy Spirit would fill me so that I may abound in hope. Then I wait with a sense of expectation.

I think sometimes it would be easier to wait if I understood what was going on. I look at the requests I bring to God for myself and those I love. They seem like good requests and, to be honest, I don't understand the delay. I see in the book of Habakkuk not only the admonition to wait but also that, "the righteous shall live by his faith." By faith I sink my anchor deep into the person and promises of God. I focus the eyes of my spirit on the faithfulness of God and I wait.

There is something about waiting that humbles me. Maybe it's because waiting reminds me that I am not in control. Waiting causes me to shift my attention from myself to the one on whom I wait. I come to recognize my pride and my great desire to be in control! I want to protect the ones I love. I want to do good things, is that wrong? But, I am not in control. This fact could cause me to despair, yet when I turn to God in prayer I hear His reassuring voice whisper to my spirit, "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." (Psalm 27:14)

Lord, by your grace you change my places of weeping to places of rejoicing. When I come to you and give you my weakness, you give me your strength. When I wait for you I discover for myself what Habakkuk discovered so long ago. "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places." (Habakkuk 3:17-19) Lord, I come to you and wait with expectation.