They that wait...

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

With the Christmas season approaching, it brings back many good memories of a season in my life. The year was 2001 and my husband and I were waiting for my son, his wife and the two grandbabies to come home for a visit. In anticipation of them coming I had already set up the pre-lit tree and had taken the ornaments out of the garage. In my mind I could just see them arriving with the children to a homey house already decorated for Christmas. I was looking for a reprieve from the stress of taking care of my dear husband whose health was rapidly declining. To me decorating the tree and having everything in place when they arrived, would have been a spark of joy over the recent events that had taken place in our lives. But one night as I went into the living room preparing to decorate the tree, my husband said to me in a gentle voice “Let’s wait until they get here.” He went on to say that he knew that was hard for me, because he knew how I liked everything “just right”, but could I please just wait until the children arrived. I have to admit, it was hard to pass the living room over the next few days and see that bare tree standing in the bow window. Once I snuck in and just as I was picking up an ornament my husband’s voice came from behind me and said “Rooooooni”. We both had to laugh, because he KNEW me too well and had caught me red-handed!

Sometimes to wait is such a hard thing to do, and yet in this life God asks us to wait many times. I believe that waiting is a time to learn to trust Him even more. Sometimes it takes going through the process many times before we get to point where we can settle in and rest in Him knowing that He has it all under control and that it will somehow all work out. Our “Waiting” training as I call it, usually begins with small situations and in time you graduate to larger issues. But as you learn to release those things that you have no control over and many things that you DO have influence over…that is when your “waiting” season doesn’t seem so long.

That Christmas of 2001 was indeed a learning time for me. A little thing like waiting to decorate the tree instead of forwarding on with MY PLANS has served to change my life.
You see, after my son and his family arrived, my husband asked them that night to help us decorate the tree. And that night with Christmas music playing in the background, the tree lit, and the grandbabies crawling around and chattering, we all decorated the tree together. It was a scene to behold as my son twirled his wife around to the music and our oldest grandchild placed an ornament on the tree that was made by his father many years before. At one point I went over to my husband that was reclining in a chair, I took his hand and we just smiled at each other. He knew that in my smile I was saying “thank you for asking me to wait”.

You see…my plans, if I had carried them out would NEVER have produced the scene that my husband and I were enjoying at that precious moment. And to make it more precious it was the last Christmas of us all being together, that very next month on January 29, 2002, my husband went home to be with the Lord.
When God ask us to wait, we have to remember that it is for our own good. And the results that He gives are so much better than anything we can ever plan. This holiday season, may we all learn to seek God’s best for our lives. It is good to make plans, but let us seek His plans for our lives. And if it means we have to wait a while for things to happen, just remember, our strength WILL be renewed, we will NOT be weary, and we will be blessed by the One who loves us the most.