Wisdom in Waiting

Reprinted from this blog 2006

By Marilyn Griffith
Copyright Marilynn Griffith 2006. Reprinted with permission

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27:13-15, NIV)

Last month, we talked about wisdom in warfare, about how to stand once you’ve done all to stand. This month, we’ll talk about what happens while you’re standing there–waiting.

It’s hard, this waiting thing, especially when we’ve already been waiting what seems an eternity to our feeble minds. We received God’s promise with joy, but now, so many months, years, lifetimes later, we’ve forgotten. We’ve moved on. Our swords have clattered to the floor. We see folks walking in what we thought was our destiny and blink hard like we forgot something.

We did. I did.

See there are a whole lot of things that we can do well, but only after waiting before the Lord can we really walk where we are called. Waiting is part of the work. I’ve had to learn this in my writing as something tugged at me again and again.

“Wait,” the voice would say like a kiss on my heart. “Huh? I’ve got a deadline, a meeting, a plan–” “WAIT.”

For the times I’ve listened, the costs have been high, but the blessings sweet. For the times I ran on, thinking that was just something biting my ear, I have suffered greatly, using my gifts in places where they were neither appreciated or nourished.
And that’s a sad place to be.

My word for this year was wisdom. I had no idea what I was in for when I chose it. The lessons have been hard won and come through great struggle and loss…yet God’s peace remains. I’ve learned that flesh (including my own) cannot be trusted in the same way that one trusts God. Flesh fails. The love of God never does. It endures and does not seek its own way. It holds on even when it hurts. It waits.

As we move into this second half of the year, I urge you to take some time this month and wait upon the Lord. Put your prayer list away. Set your agenda aside. Just crawl up into the Father’s lap and wait. He is a God who sees. Those people who’ve done you wrong, that thing that hurts so bad you can’t even get the prayer out, the obstacles that just won’t seem to get out of the way… He sees them all and at the appointed time, He will make your mountains like the valley and all the crooked places straight. Folks who are walking on you now will become a bridge under your feet and a blessing to your face. But for now, for today, just wait. That doesn’t mean give up though. Whatever He put in your hands, in your head, in your heart, keep doing that thang. Do it the best you can. And if at some point, it’s not coming together, get on your knees and call on His name.

It’ll come. So will He. Peace, Marilynn
http://marilynngriffith.com