Waiting

Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

...not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope -- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry...

But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.

All Good Things

Were any of the women who followed Jesus ever in love with him? I really don't see how they couldn't have felt an attraction to such a man - as he healed the lame, he healed her. As he spoke words that stirred crowds, he was stirring her.

Jesus has been drawing me from my bed this week to wait for Him and to talk to Him.

At staff devotions this morning, I read a story I wrote two years ago while in Wichita - A Celebration of Dancing Shoes. Two years ago, almost to the week, God gave me a set of dancing shoes to remind me today of His love for me. He doesn't just want to give me food and shelter. He hasn't settled for keeping me alive - He wants to give me good things hidden so deep that I may have even forgotten that I once wanted them.

When I was a little girl, Kim and Jessica were two of my best friends. We spent second through sixth grade together. They had the same birthday in May, and I loved going to their parties, which they always threw jointly. Twice the presents, cake and fun. My birthday was in March, and the only other person with the same birthday in our very small school was Edgar, and he was in eleventh grade. Man, I wanted to have someone to share my birthday with . . .

Eleven years ago, Serge joined our family. He arrived in February - just in time to celebrate our birthdays on March 4. Two years after that, I got a sister for Christmas - Tatiana. That March, we celebrated our birthdays on the same weekend. Tat was born on March 2. It wasn't until the middle of those festivities that the goodness of God sunk in - He had listened, and He had remembered.

And He is listening now. A year from now, I will be able to look back and see the line of grace traced a bit longer and deeper than it lies today. He hears, and He will remember.