I feel like a lot of my time is spent waiting on water tanks to fill. A horse drinks at least ten gallons of water per day. I have one horse who can drink more than thirty gallons a day in the heat of summer, meaning his seventy gallon tank needs to be dumped, cleaned, and refilled every other day, if not more. I say all of this to explain that I spend a lot of my time filling up water tanks.
While I wait, I often sit on the top rail of the fence and reflect on a lot of things, like work, my youth group kids, or the horses themselves. Other times I write, capturing a few sentences or phrases or ideas that have been floating around in my head. I find it better to sit still and wait on the water than to wander off and do something else. Why?
Because if I don’t sit there and wait, I overflow the tank and leave myself, and my poor horses, with a muddy mess. A muddy mess that only time can clean up.
Last week, I was sitting on my top fence rail, waiting on a water tank, wishing it would go faster because the sun was setting and I was cold, when a question came into my head.
How often does God ask me to wait, and instead of sitting still and waiting, I rush off and fill my time with other things that leave me in a mess?
I didn’t want to think about the honest answer.
Isaiah 40:31 is a verse I am very familiar with. It was my school’s theme verse for preschool through eighth grade. It reads: “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Because I heard it so often, I’m not sure I ever gave it much thought. This says God gives new strength to those who wait on Him. We all know it can be hard to be patient, but God gives us strength when we wait on Him. Psalm 27:14 shares a similar meaning: “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”
No one likes to wait, especially in today’s world where we’ve gotten used to everything being instant or quick. But if we don’t wait, we may make a mess God never intended for us to be in. We may deal with heartache that our rushing around caused. Like the mud from the overflowed water tank, only time and God can heal the pain.
As a writer, I want to write the story. But I’m learning that the stories I write, that I make up in my head, are different than the story of my life that God is writing. So even when I think I know how my story should go, I have to remember to let go of the pen, and give it back to God. Especially in seasons of waiting.
We may not understand why God is telling us to wait. But His plan is better than ours. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. The will of God is better than anything you know to ask for. The waiting will be worth it.
One Word at a Time 