Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Waiting for God

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25


“Why can’t you just wait and think about things before you jump in and do them?” I remember asking my son this when he came home one night with his ears pierced. He is very into “body art” he has his lip pierced and he is working towards becoming a tattoo artist and he has several tattoos. I have no issue with the tattoos, my older son, my daughter, and even my husband and I have tattoos. The ear piercings themselves wasn’t the issue either, the issue I had was that my son had his girlfriend pierce his ears at a friend’s house using a large sewing needle and then he put plastic earrings into these freshly pierced ears. He wanted his ears pierced and he just didn’t want to wait to have them done professionally; the result, he ended up with an infection and had to take the earrings out and let the holes close up. He didn’t want to ask me because he knew I would make him wait a few days before taking him to get them done but if he had come to me and asked for this I would have done it, I would have taken him to a place to get them done correctly so that he would be happy with the results.
                As I think about that story I think about my current situation. I made a hasty decision last year and ever since I have been questioning whether or not it was the right decision. I am now faced with another similar decision and I don’t want to make another speedy choice and then regret that decision as well. You see my son comes by his impatience quite naturally, his momma also has the same problem J I told my son when he had his big, red, swollen, icky ear lobes “If you hadn’t been so impatient I could have helped you and now you wouldn’t be in this situation” I feel like God is saying that to me now about the decision I made before and I don’t want to make the same mistake.
My problem is I hate waiting especially when it comes to making a decision. I was talking to a friend last night and she basically asked me what I was going to do – pray, wait, and listen, or act. My initial response was that I was going to act and that if it didn’t work out I was no worse off than before. The more I talked to her though the more I felt that the right thing to do, what God wanted me to do, was to pray, wait, and listen for God’s answer. I told her that I wish it were simple and that God would simply say “Yo, Cindy this is what you should do…” neither one of us thought that was very likely and she also brought up that usually when those things do happen they are of a pretty large magnitude, her exact words were “be careful, you could end up teaching in China” LOL
                I spent a lot of time praying about this issue last night and again today and I’m still waiting for my answer. I feel like I need to make a decision but I also keep thinking about my post from yesterday and how I need to trust God and trusting Him means waiting on Him. I was looking up Bible verses dealing specifically with waiting and I came across Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him and I thought about how much those few words express. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him – this tells me that as much as I don’t like waiting, the end result will be so much better if I do, just like I told my son with his ears. It tells me that I will have a clear and definitive answer to my decision and when it comes I will know it is the right choice, if only I wait for God. I will continue pray, wait, and listen for God’s answer. Just like it says in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. As difficult as it is I will pray, wait, and listen.
Right now when I consider each of my options I feel like I am on the fence with both options and that neither one of them is quite the right choice. I have no clear cut idea of which one is right or if either of them is right, so I am going to assume that when God answers me there will be no wavering on what the right thing to do is. When His answer comes it will be in my heart and I will know what God wants me to do. I need to remember that this is all based on His will and not mine. I need to remember that this is all in His time, and not mine. I have to remind myself that as much as I want my children to be happy, God loves me even more than I love my children so of course my Father in Heaven wants me to be happy as well and He will lead me to the right decision. In the mean time I will remain faithful and obedient. One of my favorite songs is While I’m Waiting by John Waller. The chorus of the song is going to be my mantra while I wait for God to show me the right path to take. “I will move ahead bold and confident, taking every step in obedience. While I’m waiting, I will serve You, while I’m waiting, I will worship, while I’m waiting I will not faint, I’ll be running the race even while I wait” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518ipIfM8qI)
As I proofread thist posting I get an image of my kids when they were little and so eager to go to the playground at the park. We would park the car and they would want to run off ahead of me down the path to the playground and I would always call them and tell them not to run off ahead of me or they could get hurt. I would try to hold their hands and walk them safely to the playground. I feel like God is calling out behind me "Wait for me my child, let me take you safely where I want you to go, it might take you a few minutes longer to get there but we will get there"
Father God, I am praying that You help us all when we become impatient. I ask that you bless us with patience and remind us that You have our best interest at heart and will lead us down the path that You have chosen for us if only we will wait for You and not run off ahead. I pray this in Jesus' holy name.
Amen

1 comment:

  1. It sounds like you have a great plan, and you have such a good point. I think it is so culturally ingrained in US that we have to do, do, do as working wives and mothers that it is hard to stop and be patient. What an empowering experience that will be though, to pray and wait in faith will ensure that you are making the right choice. Thanks for the powerful lesson :), and if God sends you to China, I know someone that can help you learn Mandarin. :)

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