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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

POV Wednesday – Waiting

Well, here we are, safe and sound, and temporarily settled in St. Louis. It’s been a busy and tiring, though uneventful yet enjoyable week.

Now for more waiting. Waiting to find out what job my Daniel will be blessed with. Waiting to find out what city that might be in. Waiting to find out where we will live (as in not my mom’s and Jay’s basement). Waiting to see the new thing the Lord has for us.

I feel like I’ve done a lot of waiting in my 37 ½ years. I’m sure I’m not the only one. And not all of it has been bad. But it’s not my favorite. Sometimes, I even complain.

Recently, however, I’ve been reading the story of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, in Genesis. Wo! Talk about someone who did a lot of waiting in her 127 years! Her example gives me great perspective on my own story of waiting.

Firstly, Sarah’s story is told almost entirely from Abraham’s perspective. We don’t get to find out what she thought about finding herself TWO TIMES in the harem of TWO different kings because Abraham told them she was his sister (which was less than a lie, but not the entire truth). Both of these events seem to be long-term happenings, as one of them indicates that the other women of the harem were struck barren as punishment to the king planning on taking Sarah, a married woman, as his wife, even though he wasn’t doing it intentionally. How long was Sarah there before they knew the other women were barren? Had to be several weeks at least, right? Think about the waiting Sarah had to do then.

Next, for thirteen years, Sarah had to watch her husband bond with a son who was not hers. Sure, it had been her idea in the first place, but only because of intense grief over being barren herself. And, I might point out, Abraham didn’t argue the point with her. Sleep with your maid servant? Heck, why not?

Sarah is most known for waiting for her son, Isaac, to be born, a promise of God even though she was nearly a hundred years old.

In my own wait for a child, I’ve thought about Sarah’s situation in depth.

Even if she knew from young adulthood that she’d have a child, but not until she was 90, that’s a long wait. Excruciating, even. But Sarah didn’t know from young adulthood that she’d ever have a child. All she knew was that she was barren.

Abraham received a promise from God for Isaac when he was in his early 80s, so Sarah would have been in her early 70s. If Abraham shared with her this conversation he had with God, then she didn’t find out about even the possibility of a son until she was seven decades old! What if, however, he didn’t tell her? What if she didn’t know until she overheard the Lord and the two angels talking with Abraham over their picnic lunch? The time when she laughed… and all of us righteously think how could she laugh at such a thing?? Well, if she was already 90 years old and been barren all her difficult, dramatic life, then I’d say laughter was quite natural. Honestly, I would have.

Then, whether she believed it or not, she had one more year to wait. The angels told her this time next year. And we think counting the minutes until TGIF is bad.

More than feeling Sarah and I belong in the same club just to bemoan our waiting circumstances, I take heart in her story because God does promise and God does come through … every time.

When Sarah delivers her son, the Bible describes it like this…

The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Abraham named their son Isaac. (Gen. 21:1-3)

What are you waiting for? Has God promised you something that has yet to be fulfilled? I encourage you to HOLD FAST. Do you feel forgotten? HOLD FAST! Do you feel like time is running out? HOLD FAST. Why? Because God is good and He is great. His Word is full of promises meant personally for you. Our job is to rely upon and trust in His perfect timing.

Not so easy. Sarah laughed at Him. But God was faithful, even to Sarah, to do what He said He would do.

I hope that thought gives you peace in your time of waiting.

Happy Wednesday, Dry Ground friends! Be blessed!

(photo by photobucket.com)

1 comments:

emiley said...

Liked this a lot!