Hope - Week One - Wednesday
Psalm 130:5-6 “I will wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say, more than they that watch for the morning.”
Sometimes, it seems we spend our whole life waiting. My Mamaw often told me when I was young, “Don’t wish your life away”. Especially for those with older brothers and sisters, it is difficult to wait for the next main event in their life. They can’t wait to start school, to read, to spend the night with a friend, to bake something, to drive a car, to date, to wear make-up, to have a later curfew, and the list goes on. Those of us who are parents seem to spend a lot of time explaining to children why they have to wait for things.
Abraham and Sarah were two people who waited a very long time for something special. God had told Abraham that his children and grandchildren and their children and so on would equal more that the number of stars in the sky. That is one great big number, but like all numbers it had to start with the number one and they had not one child to begin this long list of descendants. Abraham believed God and waited for many years for this to happen. Do you know they were around 100 years old when God finally answered their prayer for a son? Think about the people you know. Do you know anyone that is close to 100 years old? My aunt Effie was more than 100 years old before she went to Heaven. She was feisty and happy, but I cannot imagine her being a new mom at that age. As a matter of fact, the last time my daddy prayed with her and asked God to give her good health she popped him on the arm and told him to quit praying that…that all her friends had gone so long before her they must be thinking she wasn’t coming.
I like this verse because it says that this psalmist waited on the Lord more than they that wait on the morning. Things change a lot in our lives and things don’t always go the way we want but morning is a pretty sure thing. Waiting for the morning to come is not a “the check is in the mail” kind of waiting. If you are waiting on the morning you know that your waiting will definitely come to an end because morning is certainly coming….it always does…it is a pretty sure thing.
Some mornings are harder to wait on than others. Most nights I am in no hurry for the morning to come. When the first rays of light begin to peek through the curtains I snug down a little deeper beneath the covers to make the night last just a little bit longer. I close my eyes tightly like a toddler playing hide and seek, closing my eyes tightly so the morning light can't see me.
Waiting on other mornings, like Christmas, makes it hard to even fall asleep though the sky is dark and the only light comes from the twinkling stars blanketed across it. Filled with excitement, the mind will not shut down and allow sleep to come. The morning seems a millennium away. And then there are nights when worry haunts my mind. Having put aside the activities that kept my mind busy throughout the day, I find that with my hands and feet still suddenly my mind is a beehive of activity, processing all the what ifs in my life that cause distress to run through me like a sort of emotional adrenaline. It makes me long for morning so I can be busy with my hands and not so much with my mind.
Nonetheless, whether I am awake with excitement and anticipation or worry and distress, or even a plain ole’ bellyache, the morning always comes, feeling a little like a fresh, clean slate. Waiting on God is like that. Whether waiting for answers to a health problem or the finances to break free from debt or resolution to a relationship problem or the return of a wayward child, God’s promise is resolute and sure…”that when we wait upon the Lord He will renew our strength, we will run and not become weary…we will walk on and not faint.” If you are waiting on God today, remember that He is like the morning. He is faithful and you can count on Him again and again and again to come through shining brightly, and bringing the promise of a fresh new day.
Family Activity
Is there a night that your family usually goes out to eat together or has something particularly special at home? Why not take that night to go with your family to that favorite restaurant and buy a gift card to give away to someone who does not get that opportunity or someone you want to bless this season. Let the whole family make a card to send with the gift card to this person. You can send it anonymously or sign the card. Then prepare an everyday sort of meal to share with your family. This is a great lesson in delayed gratification in order to meet the needs of others.