"The Wait" from the Refined Collection
Have you ever been promised something you really wanted, only to be told you need to wait for it, like for a LONG TIME?
It’s similar to telling a kid, I have your favorite ice cream waiting for you at home, but first we have to go to Abuela’s and then pick up your cousin at Titi Mari’s house, and then, and then, and then, .... What?! Why tell the kid anything, right?
Or what about when you were a child and got the “You can go play outside after you do your homework,” or “You can jump in the pool after you eat, wait to digest and change into your swimsuit.” Ha! When you’re a child, “ain’t nobody got time for that”. You just see what you want and want it right then. You have no reason to believe that anything is more important or needed than what you want.
And when you’re a teenager, you start talking back saying, “Why can’t I go out with that friend or sleep over that house, or go there?” There is no thought behind why you cannot have what you so desire. All the waiting and things needed to be done prior, and the no’s seem to frustrate your plans and you cannot figure out why you can’t just have what you want when you want it.
These are child’s-play-waits but what about the promises God has given you and me and we are waiting for their fulfillment, still?
We grow up and our child-like faith is tested under waters of disappointments, pain, and long-suffering.
Until we understand and believe that we are not intended to drown under these waves, we will not be able to ride them, like... get in that tunneled sucker for a tube ride and do some aerial tricks on those crests, ride'em!
Taking matters into our own hands without waiting for the proper time is as dangerous as jumping into a sea that has just been dumped with bloody fish bait, awaiting the sharks.
Doing the opposite is allowing a spirit of rebellion to walk you down to the belly of destruction.
And giving up, well that’s hopelessness giving birth.
That’s the world’s wait. A wait that has no end and is greeted by a cliffed entrance to an abyss.
But we are not hopeless. We are not abandoned. AND Our story has a glorious end!
In Christ, we have a wonderful choice during this wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled in our lives.
To WAIT with HOPEFUL EXPECTATION of what He has already promised at the RIGHT TIME.
Wait, TRUSTING IN THE LORD with ALL OUR HEARTS!
Trust in God Almighty who made the vast ocean and tells it to be still when it’s choppy waves threaten, who made the roaring thunders and sends the lightning bolts forth. He is in control and He is OUR FATHER. And if we who are tainted, flawed and sinful know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Father, who is holy and righteous, give us what is best of the best for us.
Because He made every fiber in our being, He knows what makes us laugh and what makes our hearts leap for joy. He knows what brings us comfort and peace. He knows what satisfies the soul, anchoring the heart. He knows what we need, when what we want will bring us destruction and pain. Because He made YOU and HE made ME, HE KNOWS!
So you have a choice. TRUST HIM or NOT.
Wait in Hope of who He is, knowing His promises are true and already done for your life. Trust that His promised design is to prosper you and give you a glorious future. So many promises for this life in this perishing world but...
The ULTIMATE, MOST WONDERFUL of our HOPE is in being with HIM IN HEAVEN!!!
ETERNAL LIFE!!! Oh, read Revelation 21! It is Ours through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is THE Promise. No matter what happens on this earth...it is NOT the end. It is the Beginning of your life, your forever life in Eternal Glory. Best of the Best!!!
So wait, my Friends. Wait upon the Lord. Put your Hope in your Helper and Savior
And enjoy the ride as you soar, riding ON HIS WINGS.
There, your strength will be renewed.
You WILL run and not be tired.
You will walk forward in your purposed destiny and will not fall because He carries you.
Because you’re on His wings, you will forever soar.
Soaring on His wings through the highest altitudes, in and out of billowy clouds, perfectly balanced on these rushing powerful winds pushing against you yet not defeating you, you have weightless flight and are fastened to Him, allowing you to fearlessly dart and maneuver around the mountains and valleys and through the thickly lined forest pines, diving in and out of each channel of the falls and creating the waves for dolphins' play.
So, my dear Brothers and Sisters, I pray that you will walk confidently, not in who you are but in who Christ is in you and through you. It’s His Holy Spirit that lives in you and so you have His power. Trust and walk in faith as you remain in Him. I pray that you remember who carries you and whose wings you are on as you fulfill your appointed destiny and await the promises to be complete. I pray that you are reminded that those waves crashing in your face are not intended to drown you but are purposed to move you up higher as you refuse to stay at the bottom of it’s trough and realize you can ride and play these waves to your crowned destiny.
Jesus, help my Brothers and Sisters to be encouraged as they wait in hope for all that You have in store. Amen. To God be the glory forevermore.
Bible References
"but those who wait (wait in hope) in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:31
"Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
Ecclesiastes 3:11
"Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 7:10-12
A New Heaven and New Earth
"He found him out in the wilderness,
in an empty, windswept wasteland.
He threw his arms around him, lavished attention on him,
guarding him as the apple of his eye.
He was like an eagle hovering over its nest,
overshadowing its young,
Then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air,
teaching them to fly."
Deuteronomy 32:10-14
"As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings."
Deuteronomy 32:11
"...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:16