In The Waiting

Waiting is not something most of us enjoy. We live in a “want it fast” world. Anything from our internet to our food, we don’t want to wait. It is the same with our prayer life. We want to give God the list of our concerns and needs and we want Him to get to work and get them resolved. We don’t want to wait for His “bigger plan” that Christians are so fond of talking about. We don’t want to “wait on the Lord and renew our strength” - we won’t need that strength if He will just go ahead and move on our behalf.

But the older I get the more I see that in the waiting, in the lonely times when we are crying out to God for a sign from Him, in the depths of heartbreak where we see no way out, that is the place where we express our need for a Savior. It is no surprise that most believers pray more when they are in the middle of the unknown. And I believe that when we are seeking God with our whole hearts, we experience an incredible intimacy that far outweighs the answers we crave. What if finding God on our journey for answers is the whole point? What if the waiting seasons of our lives are meant to draw us closer to the Father? 

Here at Mercy House, we too are finding our way through the waiting. We have an ever-growing prayer list that we and our prayer team are lifting up on a daily basis. Our prayers vary slightly but they all filter down to this - “Lord, when are you going to heal West Montgomery from injustice, oppression, drug addiction, poverty, and violence? When will these children who feel forgotten, be remembered? When will you be made real to our neighbors on Council street so they might find both freedom and security in You?” And then we, you guessed it… we wait. And in the waiting, we do what waiters do: We SERVE. Is that too cheesy? Well, it is true.

We occupy ourselves during these chapters of waiting by encouraging each other to:
keep going,
keep loving,
keep learning,
keep forgiving,
keep trying,
keep listening,
keep speaking,
keep showing up,
keep making it right after getting it wrong,
keep hoping,
keep breathing,
keep getting back up,
and always keep praying.

And we honor this time of waiting, this time between the no longer and the not yet by abiding in Jesus. We read God’s Word and we talk to Him. We discover more about His character and learn to be still in His presence. And we continue to love our neighbors here in West Montgomery. We have seen that by focusing on someone else, pouring our hearts into meeting the needs of others, and serving them with the hands and feet of Christ it doesn’t feel like waiting anymore. It feels like purpose and plan. We find ourselves no longer seeking answers as much as we are just seeking Him. Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”

God Bless,

Pastor Ken Austin