The Waiting

   In 1981 Tom Petty sang, "The waiting is the hardest part..."  Please understand that I know that looking for wisdom that emotes from American pop music lyrics is dangerous.  Understood and noted.  But Tom Petty was on to something when this song was released.  We all like doing, performing, being busy, fulfilling what we were called to do.  The waiting does not seem to fit with the nature of who we are.
   In the Bible, the book of Numbers reminds us that the people of Israel were forced to wait on God.  In Numbers 9, God is represented by the cloud that descended on the tabernacle.  If it stayed there, the Israelites stayed.  If it lifted, the Israelites moved.  "Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out.  At the Lord's command they encamped, and at the Lord's command they set out" (Numbers 9:22-23).  David Roper, in his book In Quietness and Confidence, writes this: "Waiting is not an interruption of our journey but an essential part of it.  Without delay we could never make the most of our lives.  It's one of the ways God effects the ends on which he has set his heart." Sit down...shut up...and wait.
   Tomorrow is Round Four of Chemo.  Tomorrow, not today.  I am ready to go now.  I am ready to get it all taken care of so I can move on with my life.  But that is tomorrow and beyond.  For now I wait.
   I have been confronted lately with examples of young adults I know who have given up their faith.  I see it in different ways, from the flat-out denial of God's existence to the political rants on Facebook that are based on myths and half-truths and are laced with a good amount of hatred.  I see it in broken relationships and misguided allegiances.  I see it in lifestyle choices that can only be made when God and his word are thrown out of the picture.  God's ways are inconvenient and bothersome to what we want to do.  They seem to take away from the individual's autonomy and self-determination.  God's ways get in the way of our ways.  We want (fill in the blank) and we want it now.
   Waiting is hard.  But we tend to forget that God wants what is best for us.  If that means we have to wait for it, then we should wait.  If that means that I don't get what I want, perhaps it is because what I want is not good for me.  But through it I cannot deny his existence.  So I wait.  This I know: God is alive and working in our lives.  He gives us what we need when we need it.  He protects us from ourselves.  He wants what is best for us and he promises a greater home for those who accept his promises.  A more recent hymn from my faith by Bill Gaither says this:

"Because he lives, I can face tomorrow

Because he lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know he holds the future

And life is worth the living just because he lives."

   So sit down, shut up, and wait.  It has never been easy, but it is what has to be done for now.  Tom Petty was not far off.  Now I understand it better too.