For You I Wait All The Day

December has brought, for our family, a period of waiting. We are waiting for direction. We are waiting for provision. We are waiting to leave. Wait. Wait. Wait. Every corner that I turn, every new day that I awaken what is lurking for me is wait. I am horrible at the wait. I was raised in the "get-it-now" generation.


So in my mind I am finding it hard to grasp the periods of wait that are written for us in the gospel. Wait for the word, Wait for the star, Wait for the child. How agonizing this must have been for all involved. Not the perfect smile pictured nativity that we are all fed this time of year. We are able to conveniently turn the page in the gospel of Luke and see the story unfold it all of its glory, but I know that Mary and Joseph had to wait. So, too, Patrick and I must wait. We must be ready to go at a moments notice. We can't be concerned about accommodations. We can't determine how long we will stay. We just have to patiently wait. So, what do we do in the wait?


Psalm 25:5 says, "Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day."

Jesus is in the wait

He is the light for my day, the water for my thirst, and the warm, savory, bread that nourishes my soul. If doing the will of God and accomplishing His work was enough food for Jesus (John 4:34) then it is enough for me. So, the wait is not a byproduct of the call. It is a vital part of the call. It is in the wait where trust is tested. It is in the wait where faith grows. It is in the wait where love manifests and multiplies. It is here where the foundation is laid so that all that God desires to accomplish through you can achieve its end.


Just like Mary and Joseph, who knew what God was doing through them, to the rest of the world it seemed like madness. A marriage unfit. A child conceived out of lies and deception. For them their period of wait had to have been agonizing. Oh,come Oh, come Emmanuel were the words that she cried out silently. Begging God to speed up His long awaited gift so that she could be redeemed and return back to her life with Joseph.


I, too, find myself crying out before the Lord, " I have waited my whole life for this, why do I have to wait?" "Why are the days long and the trials and temptations more than I can bear?" "Are you truly going to fulfill in me all that you have revealed and promised?" "Oh, come Oh, come Emmanuel!" It is at this point that the Holy Spirit softly speaks words of comfort over me through the word just like he did to Mary. "The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28) That is when I take in a deep breath and can accept the challenges that are here today in the wait. The Lord is with me. 

And for Him I will wait all the day.