What Are We Waiting For

 He's got his pads on, his helmet, his cleats... He has all his drip on and he's looking every bit of the big college football star.   He's been there for every second of two-a-days and practice.  He has had to sit through hundreds of hours of meetings and listened to Coaches talk about the game for days and weeks on end.  He is ready.  

Hands on hips, eyes on the game in front of him, there is NOTHING this man wants more than to be in that game.  He's agitated and irritated.  Questions running through his mind...  Did I make the right decision?  What am I here for?  13 years of playing both sides of the ball, 13 years of being in the game for every single second.  13 years of being MVP and most decorated player on every team he has been on.  13 years of Coaches telling him "YOU have what it takes!"  And yet there he stands on the sidelines watching the game that he would give anything to be playing right now.  

As he sits there on the sideline, I know him well enough to know what he's thinking...  His team is NOT doing well, in 3 games they have gotten into the endzone one solitary time.  And this young man is thinking "If Coach would just put me in, I could help.  I could do something.  Offense or defense...  just call my number Coach, just put me in, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?"

What ARE we waiting for?  I'm not sure what you're waiting for, BUT one thing I know... You are waiting for something.  In the 30 years that I have been getting to know God, I have learned, He is NEVER in a hurry.  

This morning as I got settled in to read my Bible, my mind whirred with restless noise, my body humming with adrenaline from the morning rush.  I knew if I started reading right away, I would get nothing out of it.  My A.D.D. brain would combine everything in one massive ball of white noise and right now that's not what I need.  My thoughts were too noisy.  Every thought from the election, to P. Diddy, to this cough that my kid has that won't go away, was bumping into each other and all I could come away with was... nothing feels certain right now.  I have prayers on my mind that seem to have been put on God's back burner and there's just so much in this world to be concerned about...  I knew I had to do something to stop all the spinning so I could actually hear from the Lord. I took a few deep breaths and quieted my mind and steadied my restless heart.  

My youngest son started public school this year and so with that ends my time as a homeschooling mom, even though my life is still busy with 4 boys playing sports, I find myself asking, what now Lord.  What do you want to do with me?  How can I get in the game, Lord.  But as I ask this question, He had an answer I wasn't expecting.  An answer honestly, I just did NOT want to hear. 

With all the time on my hands I dreamt of all the ways I could be out there doing something for Jesus... and mostly for me.  I've been waiting my turn, biding my time, learning the plays and going to practice.  I've put in the work.  I'm ready to play.  I have my helmet on, my cleats, my pads...  I'm ready.  But when the Coach calls me over to the side, he doesn't call my number.  He doesn't put me in the game.  He doesn't let me get any of the action...  Instead, He says, "Angela, come over here and stand by me, watch me, listen and learn from me.'  

God called Abraham out of his homeland when he was 75 years old and made him a promise that He would bless him and make him a great nation and that his offspring would be more numerous than the sand on the seashore and then He had Abraham WAIT.  

For 25 years Abraham waited on the Lord to make good on his promise.  For 25 years Abraham and Sarah waited and waited and waited...  But they also learned.  While they had their eyes on the promise and waited on a son...  God was using that time to draw Abraham to his side and telling him, "Abraham come over here and stand by me, watch me, listen and learn from me."  

The 25 years that Abraham waited was not wasted...  We know this because through the chapters of his life we see a man who transforms right in front of our eyes.  God was doing something really important while Abraham waited...  He was revealing himself little by little, time after time, and year after year God showed Abraham a little more of His heart.  

And all along God knew His plan and He knew what He was doing.  All along God knew what He was waiting for and NOT A SECOND OF THAT TIME WAS WASTED.  

Genesis 21 tells us this, "The Lord came to Sarah AS HE HAD SAID, and the LORD DID for Sarah WHAT HE HAD PROMISED.  Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, AT THE APPOINTED TIME God had told him."

Isaiah 60:22 says, "When the time is RIGHT, I the LORD, will make it happen."  

If you're like me and you are sitting on the sidelines, watching the game with your hands on your hips and vibrating with the frustration of waiting your turn.  If you've been praying and clinging to the Lord, if you've been asking for answers and trying to figure out the plan, do yourself a favor...  Relax your shoulders, take your hands off your hips, take a few deep breaths.  Then walk over to the Coach, stand beside him, watch him, learn His ways, learn his signals, understand his mind and trust His game plan.

"Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He WILL exalt you." Psalms 37:34

May the Lord bless you and keep you and may He make his face shine upon you!