December 2009

Waiting is not one of my favorite things to do. I don‘t know of anyone who likes to be in the "waiting room" of life or behind a driver who is below the speed limit. We have microwaves, instant food and fast food so we don‘t have to wait. Most of us don‘t even know where we are going but we don‘t want to have to wait to get there.

So when NEDA held its ministerial retreat last month and announced that the topic was "waiting on the Lord," I wondered how long we would have to wait. I went. We sat in group time and waited, and waited. Different people would read a portion of Scripture, others would lead in prayer and we waited. Or I should say I waited. We were waiting for God to speak, to say something to us, to give us some direction for our lives or ministries. So we waited some more.

The time came for the retreat to end and we all had to rush back home because we had to vote. When someone asked me, "How was the retreat?" I answered, "How was it for you?" I did not feel like I had heard from the Lord. I was still "waiting."

Have you ever felt like that? I was reminded of the passage in 1 Samuel 3 where the boy Samuel heard his name called several times. He thought it was the priest Eli. Verse 8-9 read, "Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the young man. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, 'Go lie down and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak Lord for your servant hears.''" Sure enough the Lord called and Samuel heard the message from the Lord.

What I heard from the Lord is that whenever I have to wait I can ask him if he has something he wants to say to me. "Okay Lord. Here I am, waiting. I am standing in the check out line, waiting. I think I am supposed to be moving in this traffic but here I am waiting. It is past my time to see the doctor but here I am waiting. I am lying awake and it is 2:30am and I cannot get back to sleep. Lord, you have my attention. Is there something that you want to say to me? Is there something that I need to hear that you have me waiting?"

Try this. It may not get you where you think you need to get any earlier but it may freshen your walk with God. I have actually started to look forward to waiting. After all, God is in charge of all of our times.