For 3 months now, I’ve been praying for probably the most important decision I’m ever going to make within the year, which is, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO AFTER THE BOARD EXAMS?!The more time I spend in prayer, the more my faith gets built up, my confidence becomes bigger and the greatness of God becomes more real to me. I browsed through my quiet time journal tonight and I noticed something. While my time with the Lord has always yielded important lessons and has brought awesome revelations about Himself, He hasn’t really answered my question.
I still have a very vague idea about what my next move will be. Being the planner that I am, this totally shakes me! I’m also used to getting answers to my questions right away. Maybe not immediately, but I certainly didn’t have to wait 3 months for it! I’ve obviously bought into the whole enchilada of a fast-paced lifestyle—information at your fingertips, communication at the click of a button. And as a doctor, I’m used to having things move quickly along. When you’re on duty and your cellphone is bleeping crazily with calls and referrals from your residents and the nurses, you have to have the answers and the solutions—fast!
I am amused by how the God of the universe, the God who can create light, the oceans, the earth, the heavens, man and woman with just a word, can be so slow to give me an answer! While I love spending time with Him, lately, I’ve felt like I’ve hit the ceiling of my faith and have become a tad impatient and frustrated that God’s answer has been so elusive. And I prayed that He would send a fresh word, something to turn my mind, my thinking, my attitude and my faith, upside down.
Oh, but God! God and His word! Just like that, with just a word, just like how He created the heavens and the earth, He touched my heart and a geyser of faith and joy sprang up on the inside of me.
Psalm 18:28 says, “Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life”. God isn’t as slow with His answers as I thought. God is a God of suddenlies. He can change a situation with just a word. He can bring about peace with just a word. He can bring provision with just a word. He can bring life with just a word. Hallelujah! Thank God that His ways are not our ways. Praise God that His ways are higher than ours. And when He enters our lives, His light isn’t just something to get us by—it’s a floodlight! It’s the light we’re going to live by. It’s the light that’s going to show us where to step, where to lay our heads, where to give our hearts. It’s the light that illumines every aspect, every detail of our lives.
Psalm 18:21 says, “Now I’m alert to God’s ways. I don’t take God for granted. Everyday, I review the way He works. I try not to miss a trick.” This brought such a peace to me because part of the beauty of waiting on the Lord is seeing how He works. And at this point in time, God wants to show me how wonderfully He can sew together the pieces of my scattered confidence. As we pray, God wants us to be alert to His ways. We can’t always be humming or ladida-ing along the corridors of faith while God pulls out all the stops on bringing a revelation to us. I sure don’t want to miss that!
In Romans 5:3-4, the bible says, “…because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert to whatever God will do next.” There’s the word “alert” again. Our troubling, frustrating, exasperating situations are the times, more than ever, to hang on and hold fast to the promises of God and to be alert to His ways. But this passage tells us that patience is a prerequisite to be able to do that. And not just any patience—a passionate patience. We patiently and passionately wait on the Lord. This patience is not the kind that’s just going to sit by and wait for God’s answer to fall into our laps. While God can do that too, He wants to enlarge us in the waiting. He wants to teach us, mold us, prune us and love on us. While we wait, He wants us to exercise our faith muscles. He wants to bring us to a higher level so that we are better prepared to handle the good things He wants to bring into our lives, into our families, into the lives of the people around us. In no way does He want us to be stagnant while waiting.
Passionate patience is one that continues to pursue God and His destiny for our lives. Life doesn’t stop when we wait on the Lord. Time will not freeze as we wait. The same demands of work or school will continue to chew at us. The difference is, now, there’s a whole new spring to our step, there’s a quiet confidence and a heightened alertness to how God will show Himself strong in our lives. We take purposeful strides as the Lord develops a patience in us. We continue to do our daily activities, yes, but always on the lookout for how God will align our purposes, our pursuits, our passions, our hearts with His. So as my batchmates and I begin the countdown to D-day, I continue to study hard, to research about my options, to ask questions and talk to people in the know, to seek counsel from those ahead of me, and, best of all, continue to believe and hold fast to my Father who knows all things.
Lamentations 3:25-27 says, “God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It’s a good thing, when you’re young, to stick it out through the tough times.” For those of us who are on the brink of making a decision, it’s a good thing to passionately wait, diligently seek and quietly hope in the Lord. And here’s why.
In Romans 5:5, the bible says, “In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling short-changed.” Praise God! Does that mean I’m going to get my answer, Father? Yes, yes, yes! I expect Him to do great things. I expect God to bring people and opportunities and knowledge to my life that will tell me which road is His for me. Psalm 18:30 says, “His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God-direction is road-tested.” I don’t know about you but I want to go through life on that straight and smooth road.
I invite you to wait on the Lord with a passionate patience. Let’s continue to seek Him diligently, quietly hope in Him and stick it out through the tough times. Because the bible says that though it tarries, it will surely come. In the waiting, God enlarges our lives, builds up our faith and proves, again and again, that only He can work so gloriously.
Note: All Scripture taken from The Message bible. (I love this translation!) =)
No comments:
Post a Comment