What are you Waiting For?

As I type this, the song lyrics that come to my heart are from "Everlasting God" by Chris Tomlin.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord We will wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord We will wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever Our hope, our Strong Deliverer

What are you waiting for? I imagine we are all waiting for something. There are definitely days where I get to have more time to focus on what the Lord is doing or might be doing in my life. It can be a more emotional day tied to the full moon, hormones, anniversary dates, sensing of what others are going through or approaching, remembering from the past, the list goes on. No matter what it is, the Lord knows and is gentle and kind to meet me where I am. I used to get very caught up in understanding the reason why, now I tend to sit in whatever I’m going through, embrace it, wrestle, cry and work and move through it. Letting the Lord lead and guide and do the heart work that is needed to heal, comfort, support or simply remind me of his goodness.

When I woke up this morning, I saw the verse for the day. I read it and sent it to a couple of friends, but didn’t think much of it until I opened up Facebook a little later to see a picture of a cute couple with their new little baby all packed up and ready to bring home. You guys, I love children, I love babies and I love getting to rejoice with my friends and family in all the Lord is doing, but sometimes there is a deep tug at my heart’s desires when I see pictures like this and today was one of them. And that is OK! We don’t have to be all put together all the time. That is not life. Jesus had emotions. He cried, he wept, he had anger, he rejoiced, he praised. We can too! It’s what we do with those emotions that matter.

What I love about our Heavenly Father is that he knows exactly what we need. So, in this moment of “ugh” we will call it, I reached out to a sister in Christ to hear more about our friend’s story. I hadn’t seen them in awhile, so I didn’t realize they were pregnant. She confirmed they did indeed have a baby (not sure why I needed that confirmation, but I did) and then I took a deep breath and text her that I want some (babies). That was very vulnerable. What God did next, completely blows me away.

She had been struggling with a similar tug that morning as she learned of a good friend’s pregnancy as she too desires and waits for children of her own. What is so beautiful is that we were both able to point each other to the one and only comforter, Christ himself. We both sent each other scripture to encourage one another and even though we couldn’t talk right then, we text to say we would be praying for each other today.

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord

Verse of the day…

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”

-Psalm 27:14

Scripture from my friend…

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” – Romans 12:12

What this did was point us to Jesus, the way the truth and the light. It took our eyes off of ourselves. And it gave us the opportunity to rejoice with others and pray for one another as the struggle and desire of having children is real for many. Whatever you are waiting for, I would encourage you to reach out and share. Ask someone to pray for you (email or call me). To encourage you. To meet you where you are.

What is so beautiful about this is that it is a process. The more you practice it, the easier it is to be vulnerable, to take that faithful step to reach out or turn to the truth. To cry through the emotions and each time seems to get lighter and lighter as we let our good good Father take the load off and carry it for us. He knows our heart way better than we do, so we can trust that he will take care of our every need. Each and every day!

NOTE: I would encourage you to read all of Psalm 27. There is so much there. Take time to meditate, process and pray through the whole Psalm. I especially love that the verse before “waiting on the Lord,” David talks about his action to look upon the goodness of the Lord. That is not our natural tendency. We are human. We naturally look at what benefits us and can get focused on our “stuff.” But David speaks of the practice of “looking upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” He demonstrates gratitude. When we have a heart posture of gratefulness, quickly the stress and struggles go dim. I would also suggest reading Romans 12:9-21. Gives us a fuller picture of the marks of a true Christian.

Let me pray for us…

Oh Lord, we are so thankful for your goodness. For all of the things around us that we can practice in rejoicing. I pray for all those in a waiting season. Would you draw them nearer to you. Teach them your truth. Help them to rely upon you. As they focus on you, let all else fade away. Surround them with those who can pray for them, encourage them and love them in this season no matter how short or long it is. And thank you Father that we get to see you at work in and through those around us as we share our stories, the ones you are writing. Thank you for being the best author EVER!

In Jesus name I pray, Amen.