The Waiting Game ...

Not really sure how God's timing works.  I know it's never late.  I certainly know it's never early (except sometimes in death) ... it's always right.  But it's seldom fast!  Abram and Sarai get this call at middle age that God has big plans for them ... BIG plans.  These plans call for them to leave everything that is familiar and go to a new place.  They do.  And still, the BIG plan is still out there.  They get a bit creative trying to help God out.  He reiterates that He has it under control ... but do you know how long it is between Ishmael's birth and Isaac's????  14 flippin' years.  Yep ... 14 years. 

I know patience is NOT one of my strengths.  As a matter of fact, on one of our Katrina relief trips, one of the guys in my van prayed for patience for us and I told him he couldn't pray again ... I was laughing ... but geesh ... we all know what happens when we pray for patience ... life gets WORSE!!  I cannot imagine the 14 years of watching Ishmael grow, trying to remain faithful, trying to remain hopeful ... probably pretty sure that the "help" wasn't such a great idea or one they will repeat ... but still.  I have those moments ... those days ... for the love, God has been slow in fulfilling some of His promises in my life ... and again, I have this deep seated Hagar fear.

Apparently, God puts MUCH, MUCH more value in waiting than I do!  I mean, it's kind of hard to flip through Scripture without getting the idea that it's not a "bad" thing ...

Psalm 27:14

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 33:20
We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

Psalm 37:7
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

Psalm 37:34
Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land;

Psalm 38:15
I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.

Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.

Psalm 130:6
My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Micah 7:7
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

I learned a long time ago that "waiting" is not the passive, sit around eating bonbons, watching the clock kind of waiting .... nope, it's an active kind of waiting ... more an anticipation than a waiting.  I like that word much better ... anticipation means there's something GOOD coming ... wait means you're just not there yet.  The way I heard it explained once was that waiting is active, like a woman in labor ... a woman "waiting" to give birth ... but with SOOOO much going on.  Hmmmmmmm ... so, we keep living our lives, watching in hope, trusting patiently that God is at work.
But God ALWAYS, ALWAYS comes through ... not squeaking through ... not just with whatever He could throw together.  He is Almighty.  Genesis 17, Abram is 99 years old ... and God comes to him again to reaffirm His covenant with him.  In it, he tells Abram to keep following Him blamelessly.  He changes His name ... and Sarai's (finally getting down to business) and He gives Abram his part of the bargain, that he and his people will be circumcised as a sign of their covenant with God.  Interestingly, one of the Hebrew words for covenant is berit and it means "determination" ... what a beautiful thought that NOTHING will deter God from fulfilling His promises ... not even our help!  He will keep His promises in spite of us. 

For the rest of the week, I'm gonna do my "waiting" from here ... so much sweeter!!!