While I Wait I Will Worship

Floyd's condition has remained stable this week.  I'm so grateful for the sweet team that takes care of Floyd.  I regularly pray blessings on them.

I'm in a time when I need to do medical checkups, scans, laboratory tests, etc.  It's always stressful when I have to do this.  The mind so easily goes to the "what ifs."  I purposely choose not to worry, but I no sooner battle the thoughts of anxiety and get rid of them - and then they pop up all over again.  It's a daily challenge.

It doesn't help that I'm having to wait for results.  My oncologist herself just had surgery and is recovering.  I have to wait until she is well enough to return to her practice before I can get the reports of the tests I've been doing.

As I've been asking the Lord to help me not worry, I've felt challenged to recall His faithfulness, His provision, and His answers to prayer in the past.  It's easy to get "spiritual amnesia" and forget all He's done for us.  There is power in recalling His goodness from times past as we trust Him for help in the present!  We can no sooner have an answer to prayer and then we move on to the next need.  We forget what He's just done for us.  If we're not careful, we can even complain.

This happened with the children of Israel.  God delivered them from Egypt - parted the Red Sea so they could cross - provided manna in the desert with a pillar of cloud to guide them by day and a pillar of fire by night....and yet they forgot and complained!

As I face the future with all the unknowns, the things I can so easily worry about, I am consciously choosing to "remember."  I am focusing on all the wonderful ways He has led us, helped us, healed us, provided for us, and met our every need.  It truly helps to dispel worry as I do that.

"Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me."  Isaiah 46:9

"Take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."  Deuteronomy 6:12

"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old."  Psalm 77:11 

"I will remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done."  Psalm 143:5

Just a few months ago when I was in the hospital, God saved my life!  I don't have to go back very far to "remember" His goodness and faithfulness.  I know I can trust Him with whatever the future holds.  I'm in His loving hands.

Waiting is challenging, often frustrating.  None of us like it.  Waiting in a traffic jam.  Waiting for a traffic light to turn green.  Waiting in line at the grocery store.  Waiting in the reception area for an appointment.  Waiting on the phone to speak to someone while being told "your call is important to us."  Waiting to recover from illness.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  The list of situations when we've waited is endless.  Right now the whole world is waiting for the pandemic to end.

But waiting doesn't need to be wasted time.  There are valuable lessons to be learned and gleaned as we wait.  In the last 5 years on our unexpected journey, I've learned so much.  I don't know what's still ahead, but I've come to appreciate the journey, the waiting, because of all that I've encountered along the way.  Most importantly, I'm very aware that God has a plan......but there have been some detours on the way to seeing the fulfillment of that plan.

As we wait for whatever has been delayed in our life, it's so important to make sure our trust in the Lord isn't undermined.  God uses the delays, the waiting to prepare us for whatever is ahead.  In fact, we probably wouldn't be able to handle what's ahead without the lessons He's bringing while we wait.  Our place is to persevere, and to be grateful for what we have as we wait.  And we're not alone.  God is right with us in the waiting.

Whining, complaining, and arguing doesn't help!  We might be tempted to "remind" God of things.....but He's in control.  What we're going through probably will not change us - but our response to what we're going through most certainly will!  All we control is our attitude, our response, our heart.  If the situation changes but our heart is not in the right place with God, then we won't be fully able to receive what God has for us.

Waiting isn't forever - although it may seem that way at times.  There is blessing on the other side of waiting!  I think of Abraham, of Hannah, and others.  They kept hope alive in their hearts as they waited.  They kept trusting God.  They persevered.  They worshipped.  

As the lyrics of the song by Lincoln Brewster say, “While I wait, I will worship”.  Perhaps that's the most important thing in our waiting......is that we keep a heart of worship towards the Lord and what He's doing in our lives.  He deserves our worship in every season of our lives.  He is faithful and trustworthy!

"Since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for Him!"  Isaiah 64:4

"If we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."  Romans 8:25

"Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise."  Hebrews 10:23

"They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."  Isaiah 40:31

Waiting is part of the journey to the things God has for us.  We may not always like it, but waiting has valuable lessons for us to learn.  And, thankfully, because God is right with us in the waiting - we can ask for His grace and strength to wait with the right heart and attitude.  He'll help us wait!