Waiting for the Lord

Waiting. Yesterday our pastor continued his series on “Unexpected Jesus.” Danny took us to the story of Lazarus. A story of delayed arrival. Unexpected timing that found the friends and family of Lazarus in the thick of grief, at the point of numb acceptance that their loved one wasn’t coming back.

In their traditional beliefs, the soul hovered above the body for three days.  Waiting. But the fourth day? Gone. No hope. It was the pinnacle of sorrow and loss in the death of Lazarus. Decay had begun. And it was the day of Jesus’ arrival. 

A season of waiting

I remember a season of asking the Lord to come. Asking Him to intervene, to make the crooked path straight. Crying out for help and direction. But things seemed to go from bad to worse.

Before it all started, I heard Him say to me one morning, “Wait. Wait on the Lord.” I wrote it down and pondered what it meant. But then this season began. And the waiting was grueling. Complicated. Scary. Unexpected moves, unexpected places.

“They that wait…”

It wasn’t all darkness. My times with Him were honest and raw. And there was manna for the moment. Sometimes delivered in surprising ways. Once we were at the hospital for tests and a wagon rolled by with Isaiah 40:31 painted on the side. “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.”  Other times His people appeared at our door with food and encouragement, praying for us.

But it was months of seeking Him. Long days of laying down my fears and crushed hopes at His feet. Anxious thoughts interrupted my sleep at night. And there was a necessary refining going on because my pride kept raising its ugly head.

How long, O Lord?

One morning I sat out on the brick steps of the temporary house He had provided in a city far from our home.  Far from the place I thought we were called to serve.  The sun was out. There were hints of spring awakening. I heard a bird call and lifted my eyes to see a hawk soaring up into the blue, drifting on unseen currents of air.  I wrote in my journal, “You said to me, ‘Wait.’ How long, Lord?”

To my left, I saw a bed of rose bushes. Looking ragged from a long winter. Yep. That was me. Feeling ragged, fruitless in the winter of waiting.

And I told Him so.

He comes to us

It’s hard to explain how this is, but in the midst of hurt and pain, Jesus comes to us.  He knows us intimately. He understands our struggles. As Danny said yesterday, “Jesus arrives at the peak of your pain and sympathizes with your hurts.”

He came to me on those brick steps by the bedraggled rose bushes. Our winter was not over that day. But I knew He was with us in the waiting. I knew it wasn’t about us or what we were facing, it was about Him and His plan.  And His glory. I could trust Him.

Isaiah 46:9-10 speaks what I continue to learn in this life of walking and waiting:

“Remember what happened long ago,

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and no one is like me.

I declare the end from the beginning,

And from long ago what is not yet done,

Saying: my plan will take place, 

And I will do all my will.”

As I read those verses a few months after the rose bushes, I wrote “We are in between the beginning and the end—wondering about the future, not able to see past this moment. But Your plan will take place, and You will do Your will… We can rest in Your promise.”

In His time

Yesterday our pastor said some of us might be walking in one of those “4-day journeys.” Wondering why Jesus hasn’t answered. Wondering if He’s coming. But we can trust that His arrival will be at the right time. It’s a time when God will get the greater glory. And our faith will be strengthened.

Today I can testify that the Lord revealed His way to us after the long season of waiting we went through. He did a transforming work that brought the dead to life.  “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (Jesus to Martha, John 11:40 CSB).

There will continue to be times of waiting. For our good and for His glory.

He is worthy! Alleluia!

What about you?

Have you been on a “four-day journey” lately?  Have you wondered when He will arrive? If He will arrive? What helps you in the waiting?

P.S. This week I heard a song that moved me deeply. “Is He Worthy?” by Andrew Peterson. I hope you take some time to listen and worship the One and Only.