As Willows by the Water...

God does all things well. The last year of my first husband's life I saw time and time again the mercy of God extended to me, preparing me for the devastating separation that was to come.

Normally, I did not sit in the congregation while Steve ministered. I held children's church. But on one propitious day, someone else did the honors, allowing me the blessing of sitting in on the sermon. In it, Steve shared about the promise God had given him for our children, a promise found in Isaiah 44:3-4. It is there in that passage that God promises to pour out His Spirit on them. (Why Steve had never shared it with me, I do not know. All I can say is, "Men!")

"But," Steve added, "God also says there that they, our children, will spring up like grass. Every farmer who plants seed knows what that means. They plant the seed, then nurture it, watering, fertilizing, and weeding as needed. But the farmer doesn't plant it one day and go back the next expecting to see sprouts. The day of the sprouting is in God's hands. Our part, like the farmer's, is to invest into our children, teaching them God's Word, praying with them and for them, and then, just like the farmer, waiting. Just as the plants don't spring up overnight, even so our children. When we least expect it, in the perfect time ordained by God, that seed that we invested in them will sprout and our children will bloom with all the spiritual qualities we have been praying for.

"When the Lord gave me this passage, I wrote it out on an index card and lay it on my desk at home, where I can see it and remember to pray daily for my children according to that promise."

Doubting Thomas here was quick to think, "I never saw such an index card!" One of the first things I did when we got home that day was to investigate. Sure enough, there on Steve's desk was the card with that passage written on it, big as Dallas.

Little did I know that in just a few months the boys and I would be left alone. But, not to worry! God in His mercy had graciously made me privy to the promise He gave Steve, providing me with an anchor to hang on to for our boys. It is a mercy for which I never tire of thanking Him.

And, as time marches on, I see this verse extrapolated into almost every area in life. In this day of instant gratification--instant food, instant information, instant messaging, instant everything--we find it remarkably hard to wait ...

Despite the development of so many instant things, waiting remains a skill necessary in everyday life--and not just to a farmer's. We wait in line at the bank. We wait at stop lights for them to turn green. We wait in line at a drive-through. We wait in line to fill up with gas. We wait in line to enter a football stadium. We wait in line at the concession stand (unless your name is Justin and you bribe a nephew to do it for you--long story/ smart man). Yet despite this waiting that we embrace, however grudgingly, as part of our human reality, somehow we miss the cue that tells us we also need to wait in the spirit world.

Sure, there are times when God's answer comes on a fast track. Take the time Dennis, a relatively young Christian at the time, yearned to go to a special meeting. Unfortunately, his body said otherwise. Red, runny eyes, running nose, fatigue--all the earmarks of sickness manifested in his body crying out, "Do not go to the service--you might contaminate someone." But he so wanted to go--and he told the Lord. Next thing you know, he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit talking to him, nudging him, saying, "Get up. Get ready to go." It didn't make sense, but Dennis rose from his knees and started getting his go-to-meeting clothes on. To his wondrous surprise, by the time he was ready to walk out the door, God had reenacted Luke 17:12-19 in his own life. Not one single symptom of disease was left. Dennis was able to attend the service in perfect health. Unfortunately, not all answers are so instantaneous.

Just like Steve got the revelation that he needed to wait on God's timing for our boys to sprout spiritually, many times we are confronted with the truth that just about every aspect of things we trust God for falls under the waiting-for-it umbrella.

We see this truth unfolded in the lives of the saints in the Bible time and time again. Abraham had to wait 25 years for the son of God's promise. Joseph waited some 12 years for deliverance, Moses 25 years. Even Jesus had to wait 30 years before His ministry began. If such great men of faith--including our Savior--had to wait for their answer from God, what makes us think we are excluded from the need to put this skill into practice?

Personally, I have experienced this spiritual reality many times. Perhaps the longest was the 42 years wait for the answer to the prayer that most weighed on me as a child. And, I might add, my sainted grandmother was right there with me in this particular wait. However, like the saints at the end of Hebrews 11, she went to her reward without seeing the answer. But she never wavered in faith. She died believing and waiting on the promise of God--and it did come, three years after her death. She didn't live to see the answer, but it came. Yup, many times in our Christian walk we have to wait ... and wait ... and wait for our answer from God. But He is faithful and He will answer.

So the prayer you offered up to God hasn't been answered yet? Don't give up. The answer is on its way. When you least expect it, it will spring up like the grass and willows by the river. And, as you wait, gird yourself like a man: determine to be one of God's spiritual farmers. Nurture your promise. Stand on it. Remind God of it. And wait. The answer will come.

"For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses" (Isaiah 44:3-4).

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).