I keep this poem in my absolute favorite devotional book.
I've read it several times here lately, and I love the words all over again.
It was given to me at a time in my life when I was asked
to wait. I not only learned what it means to
wait, but I also know how to hope, to trust, to cling, to depend, and to give thanks. I look at my three and a half year old, clever, manipulating, affectionate, smart, athletically-inclined, impatient, twenty-eight pound, baby (don't tell him I called him that...remember, he always corrects me and tells me that football players are not babies) who just came up to me while I was typing and asked me how to "wear this" (while he held a bra in his hands up to his tiny chest), and I see promise, faithfulness, and a love poured out that I don't deserve. And as thankful as I am that he was always the prize at the end, I'm even more thankful for the wait.
The vision is for an appointed time. Though it tarry, wait earnestly for it, for it will surely come. Habakkuk 2:3
Those who wait for the Lord, who expect, look for, and hope in Him, shall renew their strength... Isaiah 40:31
Just Wait
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried,
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait!"
"Wait?, you say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH I have asked, and am claiming your Word.
"My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
"And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"
He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want - but you wouldn't know ME.
"You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
"You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save ...(for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart.
"The glow of my comfort late into the night.
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
THAT THE GREATEST OF GIFTS IS TO GET TO KNOW ME.
And though oft may my answers seem terribly late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT."
-Author Unknown
"But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord. [I Cor 1:31, II Cor 10:17] Jeremiah 9:24 AMP
