How Long Will You Wait?

“So Joshua said to the people of Israel, ‘How long are you going to wait before you go in and take the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?’” Joshua 18:3

The timing was no right for Israel to move in and take the land God had promised them. The time of waiting was over. God’s will and His guidance were clear. It was time to act. If they were to obtain what God had promised it was now time to move in, full force.

It is possible to have a misguided view of what it means to wait. Waiting implies that action is going to take place. If not, what is the waiting for? We wait for company to arrive, so we clean house, and wait for a knock on the door. A writer submits her manuscript to a handful of publishers and waits to receive a response, hopefully a positive one. The waiting is all about the anticipation of a future event.

When we wait on God we are not simply being inactive. Waiting always implies there is a plan God has for us. Putting aside our ego to wait for His best is prime preparation to act when His will dictates. In waiting we learn to pray until both circumstances and our own hearts are ready. We accept that our unguided impulses can often lead us to frustration or confusion.

But, when the time is right, waiting is over. It is time to act. The dream has crystallized and it is time to take definitive steps toward our goal. God needs big dreamers, people who are unafraid to trust Him for things beyond their imagination. But, if all we have is imagination without action, we accomplish nothing. Israel had waited long enough. There was no value in putting of the next step toward taking the land.

God has a plan for each one of us. Jesus said that He came to give us life “more abundantly”. In Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God’s power “working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of.” That power is expressed when His people believe and then take action.

It is so easy to let negative events turn us away from taking positive steps toward the abundant living Jesus promised. We may have been told we were worthless, raised in a home devoid of affection or even worse, filled with fear and violence. Those voices say things like, “Why even try, you’ll just fail again. People don’t like you. Last time you stepped out you were hurt, remember?” And, as they drown out the encouraging voice of Jesus, we barely make it through one dreary day after the next.

The Israelites took 40 years to finally cross over and conquer that land. They needed to trust that God was not like the slave-drivers back in Egypt. They were so fearful that God wouldn’t provide that they turned back to the familiar false gods over and over. They felt so weak in themselves that they thought the old diet of leeks and onions would be fine dining compared to anything Moses was offering. And so, for 40 years, God coaxed them out of their idolatry and unbelief.

What wrong beliefs are stealing the fulfillment Jesus promised? What failures are keeping from stepping out in faith once again? Neither our past history or present weaknesses should keep us from trusting God and moving forward as an integral part of His divine plan.

Many of my readers know that I have a condition called New Daily Persistent Headache. In November 2008 I started having headaches every day. Actually, I have had one headache that has lasted from that time until today, about four and a half years at this writing. In my early 50s I found myself severely limited.

Where I once took stairs two at a time, now I walked slowly, always using the handrail. I played racquetball and tennis with my wife for years, often three or four times a week. Now, a half hour walk leaves my head pounding. I could put in time from early morning till late at night, not worrying about 60 hour weeks, and happy that I could work that much. Now, if I had my preference, I would sleep until ten and be home no later than 4:30. If I had 100 units of energy before this time, I now have not more than 60. I feel like I became an old man in less than a year’s time.

What is worse, though, is that I began to feel I was no longer of service. I pastor a church in rural Washington and my congregation is strongly supportive. I know I am not giving full-time to a position that calls for full-time commitment. I do not have the ability to plan or participate in activities like camp-outs or road trips. To even go to a convention would mean spending half the time in my room to be able to take in a couple of sessions.

Compared to my “pre-headache” self, I am slower, have less patience and feel far less sharp. Recently, though, God has been helping me see that I must not compare myself to that “pre-headache” time. God never measures us that way. He is not expecting me to be that person, nor have I become less useful because of my situation.

I am limited by my pain, but God is not limited in my pain. I can still act, still share, still do what I can, even in a limited capacity, fully persuaded that God is still at work. My present pain doesn’t mean God has demoted me to second-string.

We all have disabilities, we all have hurdles to overcome. Stay with it. Be kind to yourself and believe that God is divinely at work within you. (Excuse the following cliché…) Don’t let your history keep you from experience His-story for you!

Take the steps you can take and believe God is at work. He is not finished with you. Indeed, God is never finished with any of us!