Soon we will be moving back to Thailand. Folks ask me when that will happen. Ummm...I don't know when. We're waiting.
Some days I'm better at waiting than others. Lately, THANKFULLY, I'm pretty peaceful about the waiting process.
Today during my quiet time, I came across some waiting that I had never noticed before. In Jeremiah 42, the "remnant" that was left behind after Nebuchadnessar came and hauled off the people of Israel are wanting to know what they should do next. They are waiting. They ask Jeremiah to "Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." Jeremiah says, "I will ask God." So...Jeremiah inquires of the Lord. Then they wait.
They wait one day. No word. They wait two days. Still nothing. Day three comes, and Jeremiah still has no message for them. What? I thought Jeremiah was God's prophet. Why doesn't he know anything? More days pass. A week. Nine days. FINALLY, after ten days, Jeremiah hears from the Lord.
My question is, WHY DID IT TAKE TEN DAYS FOR GOD TO GET BACK WITH JEREMIAH?! Was God tied up at the office? Swamped with too many things on His to do list? On vacation? Distracted? Uninterested? No. None of these things.
It doesn't say, though. We don't find out WHY God waited ten days to give the message to Jeremiah. But we do know that He waited. He COULD have given Jeremiah the message immediately, but He didn't. God is God, and He doesn't work on our timetable. He often doesn't give us the answers as soon as we ask the questions. And that's okay. We trust that He has a plan. We trust that it is a good plan. We wait.
The story gets a little fuzzy for me as I read on. It looks like the remnant didn't obey the instructions that they received from the Lord, and they missed out on great blessing. Ah, may we wait, and THEN be obediant to whatever He directs.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
3 comments:
I hate waiting. We are waiting too. Waiting to see if Lucien will get a job soon. He was laid off in December so we are trusting in the Lord. I was working part time and was laid off right before Christmas. Waiting. We'll wait together.
Waiting always stinks. But we must always wait for God's timing is better than ours. I will be praying for patience and peace as you wait.
It is too easy to get tired of waiting and try to do something on our own or, if we get an answer we don't like to think that we have a better way. But then we loose the blessing and presence of the Lord. In His love he lets us choose. Lord, help me to wait your timing and where you want me to be and what you want me to do. Dorothy
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