Sunday, January 14, 2007

Waiting

"Oh, how happy is the woman who believes in God, for he does make his promises to her come true." – Luke 1:45

I thought that once the process was started, I would be able to be patient. I'm finding each day that I am more and more impatient, especially for information. I am impatient to know who my child is. I want to know the answers to all of my questions. Who is he (or who are they)? What do they look like? Are they a baby, a toddler, a preschooler? Are they afraid? Are they hungry? Are they lonely? Are they in danger? What is their day to day life like?

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. -Psalm 37:7

Part of my questions lie in the fact that we do not know the specifics of our adoption yet. We said that we were open to a boy or possibly siblings, 0-4 years old. We purposely left it wide open, and left it to God to lead us. I have always been impatient to know God's will. I learned a valuable lesson from the book, Knowing God, a few years back. It talks about how we are always asking God what his will is. His response to us is, "You know my will. The Bible explains my will. What You want to know is my plan. Now that You need to leave to me!" (This is a paraphrase, not a quote from Knowing God) I am trusting that when it is time to make decisions about the number of children we will adopt and their ages it will be clear.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. -Psalm 32:8

Every morning, I go to a website called "Our Daily Bread" to read their daily devotion. (I added a link to this site on the right side of this page) I really enjoyed this devotion on waiting and think it is appropriate now:

"Author Henri Nouwen has observed that the first pages of Luke’s gospel are filled with people who were waiting: Zacharias and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna were all waiting for the fulfillment of a promise from God. But instead of passively waiting, they were actively looking to the Lord each day, what Nouwen calls being “present to the moment.”
Simeon, for example, was controlled not by hopelessness but by the Spirit who prompted him to go into the temple. His words of praise when he saw the child Jesus, the promised Messiah, resound as an example of patient hope in God: “My eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32).
Many of us find ourselves waiting on God for an answer to a prayer or the fulfillment of a promise. His word comes to us, just as it did to those who were swept up in the events that marked the first Christmas: “Do not be afraid, Zacharias” (1:13); “Do not be afraid, Mary” (1:30); “Do not be afraid, [shepherds]” (2:10).
As we listen to God in His Word and obey Him, we’ll discover His goodness and power as we wait. —David C. McCasland
Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest; Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. —Crosby

Time spent “waiting on God” is never wasted."

Good night! I am going to bed. It amazes me that as I go off to bed, my precious son is about to wake up. I pray that he has a blessed day.

No comments: