Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

This spring I was finally diagnosed after a 27 year wait. A fresh perspective, advances in technology, and a better understanding of the human body have come together provide the relevant information for a conclusive finding. During that time there was much angst, frustration, concern and of course much prayer on our behalf. I regularly went to the Lord throughout that time, however, the tone and nature of my prayers changed as God used my poor health to mature my perspective. At first I prayed that God would relieve my pain. After some time, I began to ask for His grace to endure this illness. Having given up my career and studying the matter in earnest, I began to request that God would instruct me. I have now come to the point that I beseech our Father in Heaven to use my trials to allow me to be a minister of His mercy to others. While I make no claims to being the best student or a perfect model of godliness, I am grateful that God has matured my faith and has kept me looking to Him for solace and direction. To be sure waiting on God can be difficult. Scripture is full of examples of those that tried to hurry things along rather than wait on God. Yet, in order to patiently and graciously wait on God we must keep in mind that He will hear us, He is our hope, and He will be good to us.

But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7

As we make any request before the Lord, our first concern is that He will in fact hear us. I think one of the reasons that it’s hard to wait is the lack of evidence. When we wait in a line, we can see that it is moving and know that whatever service we are waiting for will be provided soon. As Marie and I have waited for various things to happen with the sale and purchase of a home, we’ve been able to talk to our loan broker and our real estate agent to get confirmation that things were moving along as they should. With God, it’s not always that clear to us that He is at work and we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the difficulty or trial rather than trusting that, as promised, God does hear and listen to us when we humbly come before Him. In a culture where we are trained to expect instant gratification, we assume erroneously that His apparent silence is a lack of concern or provision. However, that is not the case. He hears and will provide in due time…often in ways that we could never have imagined. It is both promised and exemplified in scripture. Our part is to wait, continue to pray, and accept the peace that He offers.

My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. Psalm 62:5

It’s not uncommon to hear that “the only thing left to do is pray.” Sadly that makes God our last line of defense. This approach reveals that we forget that God is our only defense as well as our only source of provision, wisdom, strength and hope. Certainly, we are called to act responsibly, but we are incapable of overcoming any trial on our own. Further, we can’t wait in silence or wait peacefully when we forget that God is our provider and strength. While He may use others to provide aid, He is the one directing the course of our lives and providing for our true needs. A dear and godly friend made this very clear as she approached surgery. Her surgeon was explaining the risks that her age and health presented with respect to the surgery. In response she let him know in no uncertain terms that while he may be well trained, he was not the one in control. Rather, she explained that God was in complete control of her circumstances and she was a peace with whatever God chose for her. During that operation our Lord chose to take her home to receive her final reward. Helen recognized that God was her sole source of hope as was His promise of eternal life with Him. She and her husband (who preceded her in death several months before) regularly spoke of that hope and their willingness to wait on God despite the physical challenges that they faced late in life. Having waited on the Lord throughout the course of their lives, at the end of their days they both testified to Gods’ goodness and received their eternal reward…the reward that we all look forward to. Information, doctors, pastors, therapists, financial planners, family, and friends can offer a variety of assistance and guidance, but they are not our source of hope. Our hope rests firmly with God alone. May we live this truth in such a way that at the end of our days, we too may have the testimony the Helen and Dick had as they looked forward to eternity.

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

During the course of the past two months, we have done our best to seek God’s direction and He has been very good to us. We never officially put our house on the market; we are comfortable handing our family home over to the buyers; we have a new home to go to; we were able to close on both houses in the same week despite finding a new home later in the process; we were provided excellent help in the move through family, friends and professionals; and He sustained us and gave us strength throughout the process. However, even in times of distress God has been good to us. He has provided jobs when we were without, income when we had little, and He has sustained us when we thought we could not possibly endure. With His provision in each time of distress He has taught us how deeply He loves us and how much we can rely on His promises to provide. He has truly been our portion whether He has provided through others or through some means that is beyond human reason. He has been, is and ever will be our portion.