Wait!
Hahaha, while I had just started typing this title, a pop up
screen appeared on my computer with the dashed circle churning and the words, “Please
wait” encouraging me to do a Windows update.
Do we always notice the “wait” messages in life? Do we cancel the prompt
as I just did with Windows? Isn’t waiting against the American lifestyle? Remember Burgess Meredith’s famous line from
Rocky, “What are we waitin’ for?”
What ARE we waiting for?
A graduation, a wedding, a birth, a check, a trip, a raise, a healing ,a
Powerball win, a break in the clouds, a sign in the stars…and what do we do
WHILE we wait?
Back in January my pastors had been preaching on spirituals
disciplines. Ewww, no one appreciates the word, dis-ci-pline. But I listened. And some ideas stuck with me. One of the topics was meditation. I had tried it before, never settling in to
feeling right with the practice. Always
getting distracted, abandoning my set aside time. Pastor John simply described some of his own
& some of his known methods – use a candle, focus on a word or a scripture
or a song. A friend brought me a simple
prayer candle from a church of healing in south Texas, The Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan, Del
Valle National Shrine. She had paid a
visit there with her father to give thanks for her own successful surgery,
taking along a prayer card from me containing requests for my own healing and
others.
This candle became a useful object in my quest to
meditate. As I stared into the changing color
glow of the lit wick I would think through Bible passages that I knew by heart –
the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, the 2 greatest commandments,
Genesis 1:1. Word by word. Mixing in lyrics from hymns like Holy, Holy,
Holy or How Great Thou Art.
Pastor Cindy had spoken in her sermon about spiritual
journaling - writing down points of gratitude, questions, experiences, prayer
list. And here’s the kicker. She asked God for a word! A word of direction, guidance, comfort, etc. I wanted that too but was terrified to
ask. What if it didn’t work for me? Maybe I wasn’t worthy to receive a message
from God. Because, you know, Cindy is a
pastor and is paid to receive and dish out these direct messages. But I am just a regular person. Would God send me a word?
It happened! Every
time I meditate and ask for a word, I am given one. The latest word given was one I didn’t want –
Wait! So what is that supposed to mean?
Wait a little longer for health to be restored. Wait for the day to see my grandchildren
again. Wait for the freedom to travel.
Wait to be able to drink at a celebration. Wait, in this season of waiting, for the next
stage of my life. What is that next
stage going to look like? And how do I even know that this is the word God
wants me to know? How do I assure that
my puny brain did not just think this up myself?
One of my favorite contemporary writers, Margaret Feinberg,
writes this on a recent blog post: 4
Questions to Ask Yourself When You Think You Hear From God. 1.
Does what I hear line up with scripture? 2. Does what I hear line up with wise
council? 3. Does what I hear leave me with a sense of
peace? 4. Is what I hear blanketed in love? Great.
Now all my questions meet more questions. She wrote a whole book called Sacred
Echoes. In this she tells that God
repeats himself to us. When we doubt
with, “no that can’t be”, he tells us again through a different source.
So after my confrontation with the word, “Wait”, these are
the repeated messages that came to me. I
did not seek them out. They found me
anyway.
In my devotional reading of Jesus Calling was this Bible verse: But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior; my God
will hear me. Micah 7:7
My email inbox had a daily posting from Max Lucado: To walk in the Spirit, respond to the
promptings God gives you! Don’t sense
any nudging? Just be patient and wait.
Jesus told his disciples “wait
for the gift my Father promised – the Holy Spirit”. Acts 1:4-5
A letter received from Linda, my supported orphan in Kenya,
referenced these verses, Psalms 62:5-6, For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from
him. He only is my rock and my
salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
Another subscription blog appears in my inbox, Pearls of
Promise, containing these words: Waiting for his direction is one of the
most difficult things God asks us to do, but there are blessings.
The next Sunday’s sermon was about the day of Pentecost
where all the disciples were gathered together again following Jesus’ command
to wait for the gift. This gift of
the spirit did come to them as promised, causing them awe and wonder beyond
what they could have imagined.
So in this season of waiting – for health, for energy, for
birth of next grandchild, for travel, for celebrations – I prompt myself to be
aware of moments of grace that will suck my breath away as I whisper, “Wow”!
