WAITING FOR GOD

Isa 30:18

And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

I found this poem in one of my devotional books. I do not know who the author is for it is listed in the book as “selected.” But the thoughts truly minister to my heart.

I longed to walk along an easy road,

And leave behind the dull routine of home,

Thinking in other fields to serve my God;

But Jesus said, “My time has not yet come.”

I longed to sow the seed in other soil,

To be unfettered in the work, and free,

To join with other laborers in their toil;

But Jesus said, “‘Tis not My choice for thee.”

I longed to leave the desert, and be led

To work where souls were sunk in sin and shame,

That I might win them; but the Master said,

“I have not called thee, publish here My name.”

I longed to fight the battles of my King,

Lift high His standards in the thickest strife;

But my great Captain bade me wait and sing

Songs of His conquests in my quiet life.

I longed to leave the uncongenial sphere,

Where all alone I seemed to stand and wait,

To feel I had some human helper near,

But Jesus bade me guard one lonely gate.

I longed to leave the round of daily toil,

Where no one seemed to understand or care;

But Jesus said, “I choose for thee this soil,

That thou might’st raise for Me some blossoms rare.”

And now I have no longing but to do

At home, or else afar, His blessed will,

To work amid the many or the few;

Thus, “choosing not to choose,” my heart is still.

John Bunyan wrote in Pilgrim’s Progress, “And Patience was willing to wait.” Patience is not easy to come by, for patience means our lives are about waiting for God not consumed with self. The Word says “tribulation worketh patience.” God can not be served any other way for to try to do a work in His name without His timing is only self-serving. I am two months away from age sixty-one at this writing...I believe I can say this much, patience displays our faith and trust in the One Who called us. I’ve learned that much in my lifetime.