Ladies in Waiting - part one

Last week, HOPE seemed to be the theme. I don’t plan these things… I just write what I feel God is talking to me about. This week, looks like WAITING is the topic of choice. I can’t seem to move on… not quite yet.

This might be elementary to state, but funny how HOPE and WAITING kind of go hand in hand, huh?

We all have hopes. We all have some measure of waiting before realizing those hopes. Whether one agonizing moment or years and years of long-suffering, learning to wait for God’s perfect timing is one of life’s most arduous quests.

Thankfully, God doesn’t make us traverse that path alone. For one, He’s always there. Secondly, He brings mentors, counselors, teachers, friends and family alongside for support, encouragement, advice and example.

But He’s also left us a legacy of brilliant giants of the Faith in His Word, real stories of real people who experienced hope and waiting and struggle and heartbreak. Learning about them can empower us to continue in hope, wait with patience, and trust in God’s love, power and perfection.

Here are a couple of Old Testament “ladies in waiting” through whom God speaks volumes to me:

Ruth – I love Ruth because of her selfless decisions and obedience. She also continued to function when her mother-in-law gave in to depression. She worked hard and persevered despite having just become a widow and leaving behind everything she’d ever known in Moab. Also, she was childless. Several women of the Bible had to wait a long time for their children, Sarah and Hannah being the champions there. Of course, much is to be learned of their hope/waiting experiences. But Ruth, too, must have suffered as she waited for a child. She’d been married about ten years to Naomi’s son, yet they had no children. How do you think she survived each of those 3,650 days waiting for the gift that never came? And now that her husband was dead, what hope had she in that regard? Sarah and Hannah at least had their husbands. Did Ruth’s future lie only in serving Naomi the rest of her life? No, not only. God delivered such a beautiful future to Ruth – a kinsman-redeemer, a husband (a loving one at that) and a son, one who shows up in the direct lineage of Jesus Christ. Yeah, I think God had a plan.

Esther – Hers may be my favorite story. She had the courage and inner strength of a lion. A normal Jewish girl taken with other bachelorettes into the King’s palace with the single purpose of maybe being the one he chose as his bride. Sounds like a fairy tale, even a mite bit romantic, but reality makes it terrifying and horrible. This pageant depended on one thing – whether the King was pleased in bed or not. Either way, if he didn’t choose her as Queen, she would become part of his vast harem where she would spend the rest of her life. How many of us would maintain even a semblance of hope with such a prospect? In addition to the frightful situation, she had to wait twelve months to find out her fate as she completed the required beautification process. But because she entrusted herself to God, she endured, and because of the favor and purpose of God, prevailed. Her moments of hope and waiting, however, continued, as they tend to in life. Can you imagine that one dreadful “waiting” moment between approaching the King uninvited, a capitol offence, making the request to save her condemned race and his verdict?

Who else in the Old Testament (male or female) bolsters your hope in our God? Which character’s waiting experience encourages you the most?

Friday I’ll share which New Testament folks inspire me. See you then!

Thanks for visiting Dry Ground!

(photos by photobucket.com)