After the focus on the last post, where the Spirit exposed our busyness with the clamor He continued to say,
“There is much that you need to hear and there is much that you need to learn. And I am patient, and I am not forceful. And I call, and I call, and I call. And I’m always there. And I wait. I wait on you. But I ask you—isn’t it you who should be waiting on me? Shouldn’t you wait on me? I want to teach you to learn to wait on me, and to wait in my presence, and to find your joy in waiting in my presence.”
There it is…the probing question of the hour: But I ask you—isn’t it you who should be waiting on me?
Why is it so difficult to wait?
For me, the more I desire the result of something the more trying the wait becomes. As my impatience grows, my adolescence days resurface with its anthem, “I want it all…and I want it now” caroms in my recesses of my mind.
But living with the Lord, the journey is as rewarding as the result.
It simply isn’t something to be endured; rather, it is the joy. How else then could Scriptures say,
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2 NASB, emphasis mine);
“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross… (Hebrews 12:2 NASB, emphasis mine).
How can wait-time become joyful? And even more so, how can a trying time be jubilant?
Because of His presence.
As He said,
“find your joy in waiting in my presence.”
Then the Scripture comes alive,
“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalms 16:11 NASB);
and my anthem changes as well,
“In His presence there is joy beyond measure,”
as I realize I am standing on holy ground…
… as I wait.
