For many the call to the mission field is a call to sacrifice, isolation, hardship, blessing, faith, and patience. Some I know have prepared and waited years and years to go after they were called. Some wait for Government departments or visas for months, in our case for a pitiful 5 months and it feels like torture. December 2012, we were called. January 2013, we visited. February 2013, we were invited and said yes, and now we wait.
We
live in a state of limbo. Drawn to a place we want to be, a place we
believe God wants us to be, yet still having to live our lives in the
country we call home. And still we wait. Our mission agency policy
isn’t to pay bribes, they feel called to be counter cultural to the
corruption that exist within this developing country. And I agree,
in theory, but in practise, I just want to get there. I don’t want
them to pay bribes either, but this waiting is hard.
As
we started this year, we were so full of excitement at what this year
would hold, and after months of not hearing anything, and knowing
this tick we are wanting from the government is only the first of
many, the excitement is waning. Our expectations went from 8 weeks
to get there, to months and months of excruciating waiting. Our
friends who have been there, smile and tell us this is good training
for life in a developing country, learning patience, understanding
corruption, knowing nothing happens in a hurry. This is our training
ground.
With
our call still fresh and our excitement waning, I
searched in my concordance to seek what the Word of God said about
the word ‘wait’. What I unearthed was food for a hungry soul and
hydration for drying lips.
Psalm
27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!
Psalm
37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not
yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who
carries out evil devices!
Psalm
38:15 But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who
will answer.
Psalm
62:5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from
him.
Isaiah
40:31 but they who wait for 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.
Habakkuk
2:3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to
the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will
surely come; it will not delay.
Our
call is to obedience, and as the Word says, we wait for the appointed
time, we can trust as the LORD is the author of time. Just because we
are to ‘fret not’, be patient and hope in Him, doesn’t make it
easy, it only makes it do-able.
What have you learned in times of waiting? What are you waiting for now?
Ingrid blogs at Jeans and Pink Jandals.
we had some big times of waiting and one of the things we learned through it was that sometimes the waiting isn't for you, it's for the people around you. If we had left for language school when we wanted to, the ministry we were an integral part of would have suffered big time because of lack of staff during an intense season. God's timing is perfect, and I KNOW that is so much easier to say that really know, in your heart, but it is!! And He is faithful. Hang in there lady!!
ReplyDeletei think i've learned two key things during periods of waiting: 1) waiting tests my willingness to continue choosing to trust God, and 2) waiting proves whether i've a heart inclined to serve - regardless of if where i am is where i feel i am called to be. waiting doesn't have to be stuck on a shelf... always looking forward. waiting can be opportunities i never dreamed existed to be involved and seeking God wherever i am.
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