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Wait

             Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)

When the Israelites were caught between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army, they had to wait for the Lord. When the Israelites wanted to cross the Jordan, the had to wait for the Lord. And as I read this verse, I tend to think that the Israelites had to be strong and courageous in facing the water and the warriors. This morning, however, I’m considering it from a slightly different angle. Through the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, they grumbled, whined, and sometimes panicked. God told them to be strong and have courage more than once. I think I tend to think of this as their being strong and courageous in facing their enemies. or their circumstances.

This morning, I’m trying to figure out what to do with my weekend. I want to get “everything” done. I want the trailer to sell so I can drive back to Erie and start the next phase of my life, but I can’t pack much because there’s not much to pack and I might need something. Plus, leaving things where they are actually makes them less in the way than if I put them in boxes. Yes, I’m back to HUNY (Hurry Up! Not Yet!) And I have to admit that it’s difficult to avoid grumbling, whining, and panicking. If this is going to happen, it needs to happen – now.

But God apparently has other plans. According to Kosuke Koyama, God’s love travels at three miles per hour because that’s the speed at which we walk. When we wait for God to do something, we anxiously want it to happen now. I tend to start into one of my favorite country songs: “I’m Going to Miss My Exit!” which gets put on unlimited repeat. Like Abram and Sarai, I feel the need to help God out because clearly, the obvious, elegant, and above all else, immediate solution I have in mind hasn’t occurred to Him.

But God says, “No, wait.”

“OK, Father.” Three seconds pass. “But I’m going to miss my exit!”

Waiting is hard. The command to be strong and let your heart take courage isn’t necessarily strength and courage to face the warriors and the water. But it is strength and courage to face the wait, which often seems harder than facing wind, waves, warriors, and worry.

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