Chapter Seven
The Lonely Wait
Waiting can be a scary place.
As the Servant Girl discovered, her place of waiting at first seemed a scary place. As the sun set on the first evening and darkness settled in, the fears of being alone gripped her. It was only after a time, that peace infiltrated her heart and chased the fears away. Give God time to chase your fears away. Cry out to Him in your place of waiting. He is a God of comfort. "Be strong and courageous," He told Joshua. And He whispers those words to us as well. "Be strong and courageous, little one. I am with you."
Waiting is a place where doubts can creep in.
It has been noted that in running the race we often seem to throw in the towel just yards away from the finish line. We may begin the race with energy and vigor, but after running for some time we become weary and each step is a battle of the will. We easily stumble over our own feet and if someone should actually place a stumbling block in our path, we seem sure to fall, and then will face the struggle of getting back up on our feet. The temptation to give up is strong and especially because we are unaware how very close we are to triumph and victory. It is then that doubts settle in.
George Muller said: “It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly continue in prayer, until we obtain an answer; and further, we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing.”
Even David, the man after God’s own heart, found himself in this situation, in the dangerous place of doubting and unbelief, when he said, "I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul." (1 Samuel 27:1). God, through Samuel, had long ago ordained that David would be king. Years had passed and David was now being hunted like a dog. It's not surprising that David began to doubt whether he would survive the hand of Saul. But God had promised. And little did David know, that when he uttered those words of frustration, the promise fulfilled was just around the corner. How often do we do the same thing?
Oh may we fight the temptation to let doubt creep in. May we be steadfast in our places of waiting on the Lord. The blessing could be right around the corner!
Waiting is not passive, but active.
With a thick oven mitt on each hand I carefully pulled the flat tray of tiny gingerbread men from the oven and almost tripped over my young son behind me. He was hovering and wiggling and begging for the hundredth time to be allowed to open one of the many pretty packages that sat in enticing silence under the Christmas tree. “Ten minutes on the trampoline!” I ordered, pointing to the family room and off he went to complete his task.
Waiting for Christmas Day to arrive was almost more than his little body could bear and the only way I could think of to release some of that pent up energy was to put him on our little mini-trampoline and require him to jump for 10 minutes at a time.
Waiting is not necessarily a passive experience. It can indeed be active…and require much courage and holy energy, as the Servant Girl soon learned. As she waited on the porch, she found that it was best to keep busy and active. Spurgeon gives us some insight into how we can do the same thing--by praying through daily activity, just as the Servant Girl did: "Men ought always to pray. It means that when they are using the lap stone, or the chisel. When the hands are on the plow handles, or on the spade. When they are measuring out the goods. When they are dealing in stocks—whatever they are doing—they are to turn all these things into a part of the sacred pursuit of God’s Glory. Their common garments are to be vestments. Their meals are to be sacraments. Their ordinary actions are to be sacrifices and they themselves a royal priesthood, a peculiar people zealous for good works."
The Servant Girl found some cleaning supplies available and got to work. Spurgeon gives us the example of a servant in his Master's house: "A true servant is anxious to know what his master wishes him to do and, when he once knows it, he is happy to undertake it and carry it through. In great houses certain servants enquire of the master in the morning, 'Sir, what are your orders for the day?' Notice how maid-servants watch their mistresses when they are waiting at table or serving about the house. A word is enough and sometimes a look or a nod of the head is all the direction needed. So should it be with us—we should eagerly desire to know the mind of the Lord and carefully watch for indications of it. As the eyes of a maiden are unto the hands of her mistress, so should our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. We, who are the ministers of the Lord Jesus, ought to be looking all around to see what we can do in God’s House. Good servants do not need to be told of every little thing—they have their master’s interest at heart and they perceive what should be done and they do it. Oh, to be always waiting to do more and more for Jesus! I would go up and down my Master’s House, seeing what I can do for His little children whom I delight to cherish! What part of the House needs sweeping and cleaning, that I may quietly go about it? What part of the table needs to be furnished with food, that I may bring out, as His steward, things new and old? What is there to be done for my Master towards those who are outside and what is to be done for those already in His family? You will never be short of work if, with your whole heart, you wait upon the Lord! We do evil if we stand idly gazing up into Heaven expecting His coming and making it a pretense for doing little or nothing to win souls! Our wisest course is, as men that expect their Lord, to stand with our loins girt and our lamps trimmed."
There is much to be done while we wait. Let's get busy and stay active.
Knocking is an acceptable action while waiting.
Spurgeon has said, “Some mercies are not given to us except in answer to importunate prayer. There are blessings which, like ripe fruit, drop into your hand the moment you touch the bough; but there are others which require you to shake the tree again and again, until you make it rock with the vehemence of your exercise, for then only will the fruit fall down.”
I have a prayer that has been with me for years and the answer is just now coming to fruition. I have knelt beneath that tree and shaken it with all my strength at times, longing for the fruit that I see hanging just above my head. But the fruit was not ripe, it’s time had not yet come. When the blessing of that fruit at last drops into my hand I will savor it’s sweetness. It’s juice will refresh me and it’s nutrition will fuel my faith.
The Servant Girl waited for her Companion, but she continued to knock as well. God encourages us to pray and pray again. Spurgeon says, "Wait, but knock as you wait, with fervent pleading and strong confidence, for the Lord Himself waits to be gracious to you. Agonize in desire and let not the knocker of Heaven’s gate ever rest! Make the door of Mercy resound again and again with your resolute blows upon it. The Lord is good to them that wait for Him. He will, in due time, answer you. It shall never be said that any were sent away empty from His gate…Your head shall be lifted high above your enemies round about you and you shall rejoice with unspeakable joy and full of glory! The devil bids you cease from prayer. He tells you that the little faith you have will never save you. Do not believe him! Stand fast, pray on, believe on, expect on—though the vision tarries, wait for it—it shall come, it shall not be long."
Spurgeon goes on to explain that sometimes we miss the blessing, because we failed to wait long enough for the answer to our knock: "But, Brethren, how many times we ask of God and have not because we do not wait long enough at the door? We knock a time or two at the gate of Mercy and as no friendly messenger opens the door, we go our ways. Too many prayers are like boys’ runaway knocks—given and then the giver is away before the door can be opened. O for Divine Grace to stand foot to foot with the Angel of God—and never, never, never relax our hold—feeling that the cause we plead is one in which we must be successful, for souls depend on it, the Glory of God is connected with it, the state of our fellow men is
in jeopardy!"
This process of waiting and knocking and knocking some more is called "importunate prayer." It is vital that we learn this concept if we hope to see the deepest desires of our heart come to fruition, for those are the ones that often require much time. E.M. Bounds says, “ Importunate prayer is a mighty movement of the soul toward God. It is a stirring of the deepest forces of the soul, toward the throne of heavenly grace. It is the ability to hold on, press on, and wait. Restless desire, restful patience, and strength of grasp are all embraced in it.”
Importunate prayer…abiding in Him for as long as it takes—and beyond!
When one waits, one rarely knows when the wait will end.
Occasionally we pray for an answer from God, knowing that the wait will end at a specific time. Maybe you are waiting to see if you will be accepted into a particular college for the fall. You know that by the time fall arrives you will have received your answer. But often times, the answer to our prayers is not one that has an end date stamped on it. Sometimes we find ourselves placing arbitrary deadlines on God with no good reason: 'If He doesn't answer me by this date, then this is what I will do.' God has already promised to answer you. Will He answer by the date that you have set? Maybe. But maybe not. God, Himself, will determine when the wait will end. Be patient, child.
A place of waiting is a great place to review promises fulfilled.
The Servant Girl gained much insight by taking the time to consider all that she had been taught so far by The King, His Son, and her Companion. Faith grows as one reviews the promises of God fulfilled. His faithfulness to you will be the seed that grows faith in your own heart for Him. So as you wait, remind yourself of all the times that He has proven His love for you. A good place to start is at the foot of the cross.
A place of waiting is a great place to count one’s blessings, and to celebrate provision.
Once the Servant Girl became less obsessive about the process of waiting she was able to look around her and see the beauty of the place that she found herself in. She also became more aware of her Companion's daily provisions…the food He prepared for her, the blanket to keep her warm…and she began to count her blessings. An attitude of gratitude and praise is always a God-honoring way to spend your time, and even more so, during a time of waiting. In my own experience, I found that the moments spent in praising Him are the very moments when the tide begins to turn during times of waiting or affliction. Praise heals the heart. Count your blessings! Celebrate provision! Praise Him!
A place of waiting is a great place to sit at the Master's feet.
I believe that a place of waiting is often meant to be God's way of saying "school is in session." I think He has much to teach us if we will but quiet our hearts and listen.
Spurgeon says this, "The disciple waits at His Master’s feet and, according as the Teacher chooses to speak, so the disciple’s ears are opened. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. Some stand in the crowd and listen a little and soon they are gone, but the true disciple abides in the school and waits to hear what his Master will say. We bow down at His feet with this humble resolve, that whatever He says we will hear and whatever His doctrine, precept, or promise may be, we will drink it all in with intense delight. The pupils of the old philosophers were apt to walk in the groves of academia till the wise men were ready to come and speak with them. And when any one of the wise men began to speak, the young disciples quietly followed his steps, eagerly catching up every precious sentence which he might utter. Much more should it be so with us towards our Lord Jesus. Let us follow Him in every page of Inspiration, study every line of creation and learn of Him in all the teachings of His Providence. Let us catch the faintest whisper of His Spirit and yield to each Divine impulse. If you are to be instructed disciples it must be by a diligent, patient, persevering waiting upon Him who is the Fountain of all knowledge and the Sun of all light. May we never outrun our Master by conceited speculations and vain imaginations, but may we wait till He speaks and be content to remain in ignorance unless He chooses to withdraw the veil."
A place of waiting will not be one without storms.
The Servant Girl was disappointed to find that her wait on the porch would include huddling up against the door while the storm whirled around her. But places of waiting are often established by God in the path of the hurricane. Acceptance of this truth will make the the experience of it easier to bear. And we may discover a blessing or two because of it.
Spurgeon tells us that the storm will show us the value of grace: "If it should come to losing all you have for Jesus’ sake, be of good courage, for he that loses his life for Christ’s sake shall find it and he that becomes poor for the cause of Christ shall be eternally rich! Be of good courage! Once again, if you are called to endure great affliction, sharp pain, frequent sickness. If business goes amiss, if riches take to themselves wings and fly away. If friends forsake you and foes surround you, be of good courage, for the God upon whom you wait will not forsake you. Never let it be said that a soldier of the Cross flinched in the day of battle! Bear your Father’s will, glad to have such a Father’s will to bear! If Grace cannot enable us to endure all that Nature can heap upon us, what is Grace worth? Now is the time, my dear Brothers and Sisters, in the floods of adversity, to see whether your faith is real faith or not! Mere sunshine faith is not worth having! We need that which will outlive the most terrible storm that ever beclouded the heavens."
A place of waiting is a place where one will be tempted to rely on one’s own wisdom, which is not true wisdom at all.
The Servant Girl, for a time, tried to reason out why The King would have her in this in-between-place, but she was mostly wrong in her assumptions. In fact real peace didn't come until she let go of the need to know the "whys" of her current situation. Real peace came when she simply accepted His will.
It is wise not to presume that you understand why the waiting occurs. His ways are higher--but be assured, there is always purpose in the waiting.
We mustn't forget God's answer to Job and his friends when they tried to explain God's reasons for his predicament. He hit them with a whole series of questions which basically said, "Who do you think you are to question the Almighty God?" Spurgeon explains this concept beautifully: "Perhaps the reason why prayer is not always quickly answered is this: a reason which no tongue can tell, but which is inscrutable lying in the sovereign purposes and wisdom of God. Now, see! If I cannot tell why God doth not hear me, what must I say? I had better say naught, but put my finger on my lips and wait. Who am I that I should question him as to what he doeth? Who am I that I should arraign my Maker before my bar, and say unto him, 'What doest thou?' Almighty Potter, thou hast a right to do as thou willest with thine own clay! We have learned to submit to thy will, not because we must, but because we love that will, feeling that thy will is the highest good of thy creatures, and the sublimest wisdom. Why should we be so anxious to know the depth of the sea, which cannot be fathomed by our line? Why must we be toiling to heave the lead so often? Leave these things with God, and go thou on with thy praying and thy believing, and all shall yet be well with thee."
He is Sovereign. If He says 'wait,' wait is exactly what I will do.
Waiting will require us to hold our hopes and dreams in the palm of our open hand.
I am a Dreamer. I have always found delight in imagining adventures and joyous occasions. I find that I can create even the smallest sensations in my mind--the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, and all the feelings that go with it. Those dreams have seemed so potentially wonderful that I find myself clutching them in a tight fist, planning ways to make them a reality.
Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." He will give me the desires of my heart? He will make those dreams come true? How? I want to know. Oh wait. It says 'how:' 'Delight yourself in the Lord.' Delighting in Him must come above all things--wanting Him, more than I want the fulfilled dreams. Wh
at happens when you do finally delight yourself in the Lord? Do you, then, have all of your wishes granted? Is the promise associated with this verse fulfilled? Does He answer your prayers and make all your dreams come true?
For me, 'delighting myself in the Lord' has changed everything. Intimacy with Him has changed the desires of my heart. He has given me new desires. But even these I find I no longer have a compulsion to hold with clenched fingers. My dreams are now held in the palm of an open hand, for Him to take away if and when He feels it is necessary. How can I do this? Because the result of intimacy has been deep trust in my Father. I have found that I can't trust myself, but I can trust Him. Even with my dreams.
A place of waiting is a place of acceptance where faith and trust blossom.
In 1 John, it says that “we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” How do we know? I admit that when I began this prayer journey the sum of my faith to look for answered prayer was pitiful indeed. I began to despair for I had read that faith was a condition to answered prayer. I cried out to God, “Lord, I know that having faith is MY responsibility and the answered prayer is Yours. But I don’t’ even have the faith to hold up my end of the bargain!” It was then that I heard God speak to my heart. “I know, child, and that is why I will supply the faith as well as the answered prayer. You are simply to submit yourself to the power of My Holy Spirit and let me do the work of faith in you.” Trust God to supply the faith. Interesting paradox, isn’t it? Believe Him to grow belief in me. Kind of a chicken and egg thing that I can't quite wrap my mind around, but somehow Believing God was a turning point on my prayer journey.
E.M. Bounds said, “Trust grows nowhere so readily and richly as in the prayer chamber. Its unfolding and development are rapid and wholesome when they are regularly and well kept. When these engagements are hearty and full and free, trust flourishes exceedingly…’Have faith in God,’ ‘Trust in the Lord’ form the keynote and foundation of prayer. Primarily, it is not trust in the word of God, but rather trust in the person of God.”
John 11:3-4 says: “So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’ When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.’”
The sisters called upon the Lord. There is no evidence that they asked anything of Jesus. They had the faith to know that in crying out to Him, He would know what to do and would do it. Jesus’ reply is meant to comfort them—this sickness will not end in death. It was crucial that they believe Him, for their eyes would tell them differently very soon. Then Jesus reveals that there is purpose in what they are experiencing. God’s Son will be glorified by this situation. And then…He made them wait. Wait to the point where it seemed all hope was lost.
And then we read in John 11:21: “ ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’”
Dear, faithful Martha. She believes Jesus. She believes that He is the Son of God and has the power to do what He said He would do. Jesus said this sickness would not end in death, and even though her senses tell her otherwise, she still believes Jesus. She submits her will to Him so that He may do His work His way, and her reward is to be a part of something that is so much bigger than she can imagine. Her submission brings her in line with God’s will and her story will be forever a part of the bigger story. Jesus was indeed glorified through this miracle, but also, this was the event which set the plot to kill Jesus in motion. When Mary and Martha called out to their Lord, they had no idea that the circumstances of their family would be a part of the greatest story ever told.
Am I willing to submit my will to Him, so that even as I pray, I am faithfully believing that His answer and His way in His perfect timing will bring glory to Him? Will I trust that the circumstances of my life, submitted to Him, can be used as part of the bigger story?
Spurgeon admonishes us: "Now, thy business is to pray, certainly, but thy first business is to believe. Thy prayers before thou believest have but little weight in them. Unbelieving prayers! Shall I call them prayers? Prayers without faith! They are birds without wings, and ships without sails, and beasts without legs. Prayers that have no faith in Christ in them are prayers without the blood on them: they are deeds without the signature, without the seal, without the stamp — they are impotent, illegal documents."
Oh the Servant Girl struggled with the waiting, as we all do. May I be a Martha…and believe.
A place of waiting is where healing, and renewal of strength occurs.
Long, long ago, in a land far away there lived three blind men. One day the first blind man was approached by The Master. The blind man did not asked to be healed, but The Master spit into the clay, smeared it on the eyes of the blind man and commanded him to wash in the pool. The man obeyed. And the man who once was blind, could see.
The second blind man was brought to The Master by his friends. The friends beseeched The Master to touch the blind man and heal him. The Master took the blind man and led him out of the town and away from the people. The Master spat on the blind man’s eyes and allowed him to experience the gradual process of vision restored. And the man who once was blind, could see.
The third blind man followed The Master, calling after him, begging for help and at first seemed to be ignored by He who could heal. The crowds rebuked the blind man, telling him to be quiet. Then The Master called for the blind man, and simply spoke his healing into existence. And the man who once was blind, could see.
Each of the three men could testify, “I once was blind, but now I see.” As E.M. Bounds says, “Each one had experienced the same divine power, the same blessed results, but with marked diversity in the expression of their faith and the mode of their cure…The results were conscious results; that Christ did the work they knew; faith was the instrument, but its exercise different; the method of Christ’s working different; the various steps that brought them to the gracious end on their part and on his part at many points strikingly dissimilar.”
Those who ask will receive an answer. Those who seek will find. Those who knock will have the door opened to them. Our circumstances will differ, our cries to our Master will differ, the method of His working will differ, the steps that He asks us to take will differ, but the Omnipotent Master brings us each to the same place. We each will be able to testify, “I once was blind, but now I see.” The promise of prayer answered is ours to cherish as is the joy in the unique plan He has for each of His children. My healing will be different from yours, but we shall both be healed.
Spurgeon explains that in addition to healing we will find renewed strength in this place of waiting: "How wonderfully do the secret springs of Omnipotence break into the feeble soul and fill it with might in the inner man! Through the sacred anointing of the Holy Spirit we have been made to shout for joy! We have been so glad in the Lord that we could not contain our joy! He that made us has put His hands, a second time, to the work and restored unto us the joy of His salvation, filled our emptiness, removed our weakness and triumphed in us gloriously! The poor harp which had been long played upon could not, at length, yield music to its owner’s hands. In vain the fingers roamed over the strings, the more heavily they were struck the more discordant were the sounds. The harp was taken from the hall and laid aside in a quiet chamber and there its maker came to deal with it. He knew its frame and understood the art of tuning it. He put new strings here and there and set the rest aright—and the next time the harper laid his fingers among the strings, pure music floated forth and flooded the palace with melody! Where discord had peopled the air with evil spirits, all was changed and it seemed as though angels leaped forth with silver wings from every chord! Yes, go to your God, poor Soul, when you are out of order! Wait on the Lord and He will strengthen your heart by His mysterious power."
The Servant Girl was much like the broken harp that she first spied
on the porch. When she awoke she found that it was gone. The Maker had taken it and was busy about repairing and restoring it, in secret. In the same way, He was busy repairing and restoring, strengthening and renewing the heart of the Servant Girl. When the Master's work was done, He could bring forth beautiful music from the harp, and beautiful worship from the heart of the Servant Girl.
Give the Maker time to repair, restore, heal and strengthen you. Wait upon the Lord.
Acceptance does not guarantee that the waiting will end soon.
Even when the Servant Girl came to a place of acceptance, the days of waiting continued, but the nature of those days changed. She at last found peace and joy in her circumstances and that made the waiting easier to bear. Resting in Him might not cut short your days of waiting, but it will make a difference in the quality of your experience while you are there.
Waiting is rewarded with a deeper conversation with The King.
The fellowship that the Servant Girl enjoyed with The Son and her Companion when her wait was finally over was sweeter than it would have been had she not waited. She learned that she had never been alone--something her heart sensed, but needed to experience fully. She was promised that the waiting would make the rest of her journey easier to bear.
Spurgeon encourages us: "Draw very near to your Father’s heart. Wait upon the Lord, commit everything to Him and He will see you through, even to the triumphant end. All that you can do in your own justification will only make more mischief. Hands off, there, and leave it with the Most High. So we close by repeating our blessed text—“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord,” May He keep you waiting courageously, for Christ’s sake. Amen."
May the waiting bring rich mercies to you and a deeper intimacy with your Father, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit.