Waiting!
02/07/2020 19:13
Recently, I made a happy discovery. I used to hide away from the sun for years, because heat caused those fibro symptoms to flare badly. But one gloomy week when my body became unbearably fatigued, I wondered if there might be a connection between the lack of sunlight and my deteriorating health. I checked on the web … and voila - there it was. Apparently a lack of Vitamin D3 caused muscle weakness—just what I was experiencing. It was the breakthrough my body needed. I soon gave myself 20 minutes or more of sunshine on my bare skin and as often I could. Like a life-giving infusion of saline, it brought revival into my weary body as never before. What a thrilling discovery!
Since then, my life has revolved around the Son and the sun! I worship the sun’s Creator, the Son of God, as I turn my body towards the sun's and the Son's healing rays. This new life-giving tonic never fails to provide me with a fresh dose of energy. One day last week, sunny spells brightened our world from time to time through a curtain of bleak wintry weather. It felt too cold to bare my arms outdoors, but to my joy I discovered that sunlight filled our bedroom, transforming it into a sun-room! Hooray!
I stripped down to my undies and sat on the carpet in a patch of sunlight, legs outstretched. How good it felt on my skin! Ah! Nice. But then … it lasted only 30 seconds—the sun was intent on teasing me! Clouds filled the sky and it soon vanished behind them. I waited a while, but finally, with a sigh of resignation, I got up, piled on the many layers of winter garments my body needed and trundled back into my den for my Quiet Time with Jesus. A few minutes later, I looked up. Oh? The sunshine had returned. So back I went, Bible in hand to that patch of sunlight in our bedroom. I sat on the carpet, trying my best to catch all the sun I could get. But once again….after a few brief minutes, the sun hid and grey clouds filled the skies. This time however, I decided I’d be patient. I waited. And waited. And waited some more.
I was glad I did. In time, the dark clouds drifted and the sun peeked in through my window bringing light and hope and joy to both body and soul. I sat there lapping it all up, continuing my Quiet Time in songs of praise. The sunning session lasted for 25 minutes, a huge blessing considering the grey kind of day it was – and I was so grateful that my body had received all the sunshine it needed. Waiting had brought me rich dividends.
2020 has been a year of waiting, has it not? Waiting to know what’s going on, waiting to hear better news, waiting for the end of lockdown, waiting for a vaccine for COVID-19, waiting for life to improve. Waiting for life to begin again. 2020 has been probably the year when all of humankind had to change their own agendas and wait.
And perhaps ... there are other kinds of waiting too?
Are you waiting on God? Has He given you a promise that is yet to be fulfilled? As I wait on Him, It helps me to know that the Bible gives me story after story when God made a promise to His followers, but it took many years and sometimes decades before each promise was fulfilled. God promised Abraham that he would be father of many nations but Abraham was an old man before Isaac was born. God made David king, but it was all of fifteen years or more before David overcame a long season of struggle to finally reign as king over Israel. Isaiah prophesised the birth of Jesus but it took 700 years before those prophecies were fulfilled.
Seasons of waiting often seem to be part of the Divine plan.
Waiting is rarely easy and I know the road is long. It takes courage and perseverance to look ahead with faith and hope, when the tough reality that surrounds us is like a deep dark forest that holds us captive. The truth however is that waiting is a needed for our own good, and its importance cannot be over-stated. Waiting is often a place of growth—growth in maturity, growth in character, growth in faith. We are reminded in the scriptures that waiting will in due season bring all we hope for and more. So even as you wait today for the fulfilment of God’s promises to you, do not give into despair. He has not abandoned you. He loves you too much to give you what you need too soon. He is working behind the scenes in ways you will not dream of.
He who has promised never slumbers nor sleeps. He is for us, not against us. He is with us every moment of every day. He is faithful. Always faithful. His timing is rarely ours and His ways beyond our own. But as we look to Him with childlike faith and trust, He will sing over us sweet songs of deliverance and gift us with melodic songs in the night. And one beautiful day, you will step into your Promised Land with great joy knowing that your long wait has been more than worth it.
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” Psalm 37:7
“Now faith is being sure in what we hope for and certain about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.
And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” 2 Cor 1:20
