Not Be Tired by Waiting

This week we are discussing Rudyard Kipling's poem If and how we can apply it to our lives!  Today I want to focus on one line of his poem:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Waiting on God can be one of the most exhausting times in our life.  It is during these times of waiting that we truly need Christ to fill our cup.  Yet if we can have the right understanding of our situation, we will see that there is purpose in our waiting.  Oswald Chambers shares with us in My Utmost for His Highest,

When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don't fill it with busyness, just wait.  The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification - to be set apart from sin and made holy - or it may come after the process of sanctification has begun to teach you what service means. (January 4)

I can recall during one particular time of waiting in my life, I felt broken and abandoned.  I cried out to God daily to reach down and break open the flood gates that were holding back that living flow from Him that I so desperately needed! Looking back I can see the wonders of what He was doing in my life and in my husband's.  He was trying us by fire, so to speak.  It was our time of wandering in the desert so that His Spirit could sanctify us and prepare us for the work He had for us.  What followed?  We entered into youth ministry.

God has so many blessings stored up for you, but like any good parent, He will give them to you when the time is right and only He knows when that is.  He may have plans for you that are bigger than anything you can conceive right now.  He may have an opportunity for you through someone that you haven't even met yet!  If you are single, He may just be preparing you for that "special person" so that your future marriage can be strong and united in Him!  There are so many reasons why God may be silent right now. Yet in His Word, He gives us direction and hope for times like these:

He says, "Be still and know that I am God;" -Psalm 46:10

and

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; -Psalm 23:4

Wait patiently today, friend.  God will never abandon you or leave you alone.