Waiting

Many moons ago, when I was just a sweet (I hope) young thing, I had an experience that weighed on me for years. I had been left at the bus station in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, by a missionary family to wait for the bus that would take me to Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. As I sat on one of the hard wooden seats, a man, perhaps in his twenties, made his way into the station. He had no legs. He pushed himself around by using his hands to press wooden blocks on the floor for propulsion on a short wooden thing that looked like a sawed off door with wheels. He made his way from person to person, asking for money. My heart went out to him. I gathered a few coins (I didn't have many) and when he came to me I gave him the coins, spoke to him about God's love and salvation, and handed him a tract that told more about Jesus and how to be saved. Everyone in the station leaned towards us, craning their necks to see and hear what I was telling the man without legs. Accepting the tract, he nodded when I finished and pushed towards someone new. He had no sooner left than I began castigating myself. If I had faith like Jesus, I would have grabbed that man's hand and said, "In the name of Jesus, stand up!" After all, didn't Matthew 15:30-31 clearly state that Jesus not only healed the crippled, but the maimed as well? Even the Greek word used for "maimed" there agrees with the definition of deformed, impaired, or missing limbs. A miasma of shame swept over me ... again ... and again ... and again.

As imperfect as that interaction might have been, it nonetheless bore fruit. For years I prayed that it was a seed that drew that man to the Lord, and it served to constrain me to pray as the disciples in the book of Acts, that miracles might be done to glorify the name of Jesus (Acts 4:29-30). In the ensuing years I did see many miraculous answers to prayers, a few instant healings visual to the eyes, but it took many years for me to realize that I had not failed God for not praying for a leg miracle for the man at the bus station.

God's answer to my self-deprecation and remorse did come, but not at once. It came decades later when He was finally able to open my eyes to the truth and see. The men whom God called to great things in the Bible didn't just jump up one day and spring all gung-ho into the middle of miracles. Noah heard God's voice, and then he built the ark. Abraham heard God's voice, and then he left his homeland for the land God wanted him to have. Moses heard God's voice, and then he led the children of Israel out of bondage. Their great acts didn't just happen. They waited on God, and when they heard His voice, then they acted. Even Jesus said he could do nothing except what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19). I finally saw that I had not failed the man without legs. I had been given no leading about an extremely strong miracle of the restoration of his limbs. I had given him what I could, the plan of salvation. God does not ask from us more than what we have to give (2 Corinthians 8:12). Just as Jesus said, the truth set me free. No longer under self-condemnation, I was able to move on to learn the blessedness of waiting to act until I hear God's voice.

I was a little slow on the spiritual learning curve about waiting, for as the teacher of young children, I already had some experience in this area. It was one of the essential life skills we taught our little ones. The reality is that waiting is something we do all our lives—we wait in line at the bank, to buy tickets, to sign in at the doctor's, to enter a theater, to buy groceries, etc. When little ones first begin to learn the skill, they tend to be all over the place, wiggling this way and that, scurrying out of place. It is not a natural ability, but it is a needed skill that carries on into adulthood.

Studies done on the percentage of a person's life spent in waiting vary, estimates ranging from 6 months to 5 years of our lives spent in that activity. It might sound silly at first to practice this skill, until you stop to think about it. Most of us struggle with it even as adults. Even my normally extremely patient husband finds waiting at a red light a painful test of temper. The fact is, waiting is a learned competency without which we would face much aggravation in our walk through life. And just as waiting in our daily life is a learned ability ... so is learning to wait on God. And just as it helps us in our walk through life, waiting on God ups the ante in our walk with Him.

When Noah heard God's voice, a God-serving family was saved from destruction. When Abraham heard God's mandate, a nation loved by God was built. When Moses heard and obeyed God, a nation was delivered. When Jesus heard from His Father and actualized that knowledge, people were healed.

In the middle of a war with the Philistines, David had the wisdom to seek God, to wait to move until he heard from Him. God honored David's query of His will. He told David to wait to attack until he heard marching in the tops of the mulberry trees. David waited. Then, when he heard the movement in the tops of of the mulberry trees, he attacked. And experienced a God-given victory (2 Samuel 5:23-25).

God does not ask us to do what He has not quickened us to do. Rather, He expects us to seek His face, to listen for His voice, and to act on what He tells us. Not all of us are called to be in the spotlight like Kathryn Kuhlman or Billy Graham or to be on the mission field. Many are the members of the body of Christ called to minister in the local assembly, to serve in prayer, teaching ... to be the hands and feet of Jesus extending love to His children. We are each and every one called to do what He has prepared for us to do, where He has placed us, and to whom He would have us minister (Ephesians 2:10). In a time of severe drought, the prophet Elijah was sent to one and only one specific widow of Sarepta for a miracle (1 Kings 17:7-16). He heard God's voice, he went, and God performed a Bible-worthy miracle.

The bottom line is that God doesn't want a herd of crazies doing whatever their flesh or imagination dictates. That's a sure way to end up with people who seem to be building a kingdom for themselves rather than serving the Kingdom of God. God seeks sheep who wait to hear His voice and then act on His directives. May we, like David and those other great men of God in the Bible wait on Him, wait to hear His voice, and then and only then, move, when and as He tells us. When we do, we need to hold on to our hat. Because when we wait on Him, doing that which He tells us, we will see great things. Every. Single. Time.

"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).

"...on thee do I wait all the day" (Psalm 25:5).

 "My sheep hear my voice ..." (John 10:27).

"In your patience possess ye your souls" (Luke 21:19).