Waiting....

“Waiting” is not one of my favorite words!  Who likes to wait?  I’ve been thinking about waiting recently….due in large part to the fact that my family and I are waiting for the birth of our baby!  His arrival is hopefully at least a few weeks off still, but could be up to 6 weeks away.  In the beginning the waiting isn’t hard.  But as it gets closer and the baby grows and is more ready to be born, it gets harder to wait.  I’ve made him a couple blankets; we’re getting his cradle, crib, clothes and necessities ready.  We’ve finally decided on his name!  He’s getting presents from family and friends.  It’s getting harder to wait.

I was at a friend’s baby shower recently and another friend brought up the idea of how God has waited so long for a baby to be born.   She brought up the verses in Psalm 139 that speak so intimately of our creation.  “For you formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.  I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.” 

Think of how long God waited for YOU to burst onto the scene!  Your parents waited 9 months, maybe they dreamed and longed for you prior to that time, but God saw your arrival and your life since before the foundations of the earth!  Our God is a God who waits. 

It brings my heart joy to think of how long God has waited for the baby that I carry inside of me now.  He knows so much about this little boy, that I love and yet have not met, held or looked at.  I want to know him, to begin our journey together, to care for him…on the outside…  God knows his personality, his preferences, his destiny, the challenges he will face, the victories he will have, his loves, ambitions and dreams.  I will spend my life learning these things and discovering the person of my son.  But for now I’m waiting.

Yesterday at church I asked the Holy Spirit about waiting;  what is waiting like for God?  I heard one word:  “anticipation”.  I was filled with this unmistakable feeling of joyful anticipation.  God is pleased to wait, because He sees all the goodness that will be brought about by His perfect will and power.  I decided yesterday to lean into that flow of joy and hope from heaven in the midst of waiting.  I can taste His anticipation for this baby as we wait together for his arrival.

What are you waiting for?

One of my favorite psalms talks about waiting, Psalm 130.  You should read it!  I love the middle verses;

 

“I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait;

and in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord  
More than the watchmen wait for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD;
for with the LORD there is lovingkindness,
and with Him is abundant redemption.”

I love that image;  waiting for God like a watchmen waits for the morning.  Do I wait for God like that?  In the places where I have questions, doubts, fears or where I am discontent – do I wait with the assurance and confidence of a watchman?  Watchmen know that the morning will come, they aren’t watching for it to see IF it will come.  They are watching to experience WHEN it comes!  Maybe it signals the end of their shift, or the beginning of something else.  But they are sure of its coming, they are watching with anticipation.  I want to wait for God like that!  That is how He waits!

Not everything is as fun to wait for as a baby!  I’m waiting for lots of other things.  I’m waiting to see the breakthrough in healing that we’ve been contending for.  I’m tired of my friends having chronic pain, habitual migraines, seizures, and injuries.  I hear the promises of God echoing in my head and I wait to experience them!  I’m waiting for the healing of two of my sons.  I’m waiting for the spiritual awakening of some of my family members.  I’m waiting for a check in the mail.  I’m waiting for restoration of a relationship that still grieves my heart.  I’m waiting for dreams that I can’t see how they’ll ever be possible, and yet they still live inside of me.  I’m waiting for a lot.

I want to wait with hope and joy and confidence.  I want to feel God with me, right beside me, as I wait.

What are you waiting for?  What are you waiting on God for?  What if you asked Him about how He is waiting with you?  What if you could feel joyful anticipation in the midst of waiting?