There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
Have you ever arrived for a doctor appointment only to find the waiting room brimming with people and illness? Naturally it's a day when your to-do list is longer than your weekly grocery list. And you can just feel your teeth gritting and grinding in frustration and annoyance as you sit and stew for minutes, then an hour and you haven't even been called back yet. "What the...."
What if you instead turned your entire perspective around. You walk in and excitedly realize you might get a whole hour -- to pray, read your Bible, meditate. What a gift from God that you can set everything aside and focus on him and what really matters most. Passionately patient!
Right now, I'm in one of life's waiting rooms. God called me to leave my full-time job with nothing lined up to replace lost income and help pay our mounting medical debts. Then he called me to go to Africa without even a dollar to finance my own trip. Why would he do this? Why am I still sitting here jobless?
It would be easy to complain, and don't get me wrong -- I have bad days and get stressed! But God has already shown me he will provide. He DID provide -- every last penny for my mission trip. And while we're not making much headway on medical bills, I was just able to pay all our bills in the third month of me being unemployed with a few odd jobs here and there.
This, how ever ridiculous it may sound, is my choosing. Yes, I COULD get a job. I am perfectly capable. But when I prayed in January that I would surrender myself to God's will, I made a commitment that I would have faith and let him worry about the details. Sound nuts? We're such control freaks about our lives that it is very, very difficult to walk where he leads! Well, he very clearly led me to Africa and then worked out every last detail. What a faith strengthening exercise that was!
So I'm back in the waiting room, reminding myself not to get frustrated. God has called me again, and I am working toward obedience. Can I follow him in faith without losing hope? Can I shout my praises in worship while hemmed with troubles? I think I MUST, because I promised and he's never let me down yet. And he has a promise, too...that he will show me what to do if I am alert (which is hard to do when I'm annoyed and frustrated!), that I will become virtuous in my waiting, that I will not feel shortchanged and that he will pour generously into my life through the Holy Spirit.
Wow. Making a choice about how I view my waiting room seems quite easy in light of this! I will wait, excitedly, for him to keep his promises to me!
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