We wait; God works

Many years ago, in a devotional my Ted sent to his beloved congregation entitled "Strength",  he wrote: "What does it mean to 'wait' on the Lord? This Hebrew word originally was used to convey how a rope was made by taking a strand, then weaving other strands in and out until there was a rope that would not break.  As we trust the Lord with every problem from the very first weak strand of faith that we exercised, He begins to weave into our experience those strands of strong fiber that cannot be broken.

God not only works while we wait; He battles for us as we believe. God does not help those who help themselves. He can only help the helpless. His power and strength are unleashed as we wait upon Him. When coming up behind him were thousands of Egyptians with only one purpose in mind: to KILL, and milling around him were two and a half million screaming, terrorized Israelites, it came all over Moses that there was no hope of deliverance unless God showed up. God  did 'show up' and spoke to Moses in Exodus 14:13 and 14:  'Do not be afraid; stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.'

...so, ask God to help you thank Him for your Red Sea experiences and take your place along with others found in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, who 'endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible' ".

It's not easy to stand still, unafraid, when within seconds our life on this earth may be over. Done.  History. It is humanly impossible to recall that our Father is all powerful, all knowing, everywhere present, righteous, just, holy, loving, sovereign and faithful at these paralyzing times. The most difficult assignment during our short time on this earth is to ...wait. While God was rolling back that Sea, the short time it took must have seemed like hours to the throng of fleeing slaves. ...and they could do...nothing! ...except wait!

Remember the dad in Mark 9 whose son had been thrown numerous times to the ground, foaming at the mouth,  even cast into fire and water by a demonic spirit? Jesus asked that the boy be brought to Him and when the spirit saw Jesus he threw the boy into a convulsion. Jesus told the dad and the watching crowd: "Everything is possible  for him who believes."  Immediately the dad exclaimed: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" Jesus took the boy by the hand,  lifted him to his feet and he stood up, healed. The disciples asked Jesus privately why they had been unable to heal him and Jesus answered: "This kind can come out only by prayer."  

Waiting was no problem for my Ted.  In fact, he enjoyed it. It took me years to figure out that all the time he was appearing to be doing nothing to fix whatever problem was current,  he was actually thinking and planning and ...praying.  Eventually he would let me in on what he was thinking, planning and praying about.  I was either going to learn to pray and wait or destroy by nagging,  not only our marriage, but our children, our children's children and countless others who were desperately searching for a couple whose marriage gave them hope for theirs.

...a fitting hymn:

TRUST AND OBEY FOR THERE'S NO OTHER WAY
TO BE HAPPY IN JESUS, BUT TO TRUST AND OBEY

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay
For the favor He shows, and the joy He bestows
Are for them who will trust and obey.

TRUST AND OBEY FOR THERE'S NO OTHER WAY
TO BE HAPPY IN JESUS, BUT TO TRUST AND OBEY

Love,
Jo