June 28 - Do you like to wait?

Do you ever want more precise instructions before acting?

Or are you willing to be still and wait?

But get up and enter the city, and

you will be told what you are to do.

Acts 9:6

I’ve walked with hundreds of people through hundreds of illnesses. Do you know what is often the hardest time? Waiting.

Imagine that a biopsy’s been done. Waiting for the results is often harder than hearing the diagnosis. Once you have a diagnosis, you can do something – even if that something is as tough as chemo. But while you’re waiting, you’re out of control.

In Acts 9, the not-yet-an-Apostle, Paul, was out of control. Jesus bowled him over with a bright light. Our Lord demanded an accounting for the violence and persecutions that Paul was leading. The Lord left him blind … and with one instruction: Go to a nearby city and wait.

That period of waiting had to be terrifying. The God of Heaven and Earth had just called Saul/Paul a violent betrayer. The King of Creation had just accused him of ravaging the kingdom. Like a convict, Paul was waiting for a verdict of guilt. Like a person worrying about a diagnosis of cancer, Paul was trembling as he awaited the inevitable diagnosis of death.

But God had a different plan.

The Healer would use Paul as his “9:15 instrument … chosen to bring [his] name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel.”

But Paul didn’t know that yet. So what did he do as he waited? “11 At this moment,” says scripture, “he is praying.”

Hardship can lead us to prayer. In fact, it should lead us to prayer. We may wish for perpetual sunshine, but it’s often the rainy seasons that produce the most prayer and the most growth.

Waiting is often ordained by God. As we close today, let me give you one other example of patience-before-purpose. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah is being hunted by the evil queen, Jezebel. She wants to kill him. So Elijah runs and runs until he falls exhausted, begging God to let him die. God sustains him with food and nutrients and then leads him out on a mountain.

Then God makes him wait.

And wait.

In fact, as God is making the prophet wait, the Lord is also hurtling calamities all around him like fiery darts – earthquakes, wind, and fire. When and where does Elijah finally encounter the Lord? When he’s finally still … and in a “12 still small voice.”

Are you feeling like fiery darts and calamities are falling all around you? Are you waiting for word on something that’s out of your control? God is there. Pray. And look for him in the still, small whispers … and graces.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who was never a waiter

(obviously, it’s a noble job)