Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate...
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? You say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers. I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming Your Word.


"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign.

Or even a 'no', to which I'll resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting... for what?"


He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine...
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss, if I lost what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know Me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still... wait."

~Russell Kelfer

7 comments:

Elisabeth said...

Wow! Ana, thank you for sharing this. It's amazing ... exactly what I have felt and thought SO many times. And God says, "Wait!" But, you know, it's because He loves us so VERY much. Wow ... now I feel 'shivery'! Thank you ... I appreciate this VERY much! :->

Shelly said...

Ana,
Thank you so much for sharing this Poem with me! It is so perfect! I know that God is in the wait, but sometimes, often actually I need to be reminded! THANK YOU!!!!

Ana said...

Shelly~
You're most welcome. It is such an encouragement to me every time I read this and I just have to share it with every one. :)

Lindsay said...

Wonderful! And not realized or talked of near enough! Thanks for sharing!

AmandaPeck said...

(Not sure if it worked... so if it did, ignore this post! :) )

I am so thankful how God chooses to speak through people... while I would have never been able to have that penmanship, this poem beautifully speaks what I think most Christians go through.

I have read some of your other posts and have too felt that desire, that intense longing to be a wife, (Proverbs 31), to have children and raise them for God. I used to try and fight it, but I almost think of it as a gift now.

God truly sees my longings and desires, after all, He knit me together... Yet He chooses to allow me to have those feelings and also to not 'fill' them or give me an answer on whether or not He will grant them. So I can trust that He is teaching me, drawing me ever nearer to Him, which is our ultimate goal, to win Christ.

If that is how God, who is full of tender mercy and compassion, sees fit to fill my heart and have my days play out, His plan is perfect and I know, most assuredly, He is with me. What a comforting, peaceful thought.

In America, we have sadly been raised in an environment where things happen quickly! Want a TV you cannot afford? It's okay... you don't have to wait or save up, just use a credit card! Don't won't to take the time to cook? Use a microwave... get DSL internet... buy the newest phone...

Yet that is the opposite of what our spirits need. Because God says Wait... and that is it. He gives us promises in His Word and blessings in our lives to help us wait. But He simply asks us to wait. And we must, we must, respond with a sound yes.

He sees our tears and thoughts and is with us. I end with this (I heard it from Elisabeth Elliot... look up the whole poem)

Love divine nas seen and counted

Every tear it caus'd to fall,

And the storm which love appointed,

Was its choicest gift of all.

Ana said...

AmandaPeck~
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your words of encouragement!! What a beautiful comment. I was so encouraged and convicted by your words! Thank you so much!

AmandaPeck said...

Ana,

What I wrote is what God has been teaching me these past few months! So I am glad I could share that. I am really glad I discovered your blog. I sent you an e-mail by the way.

Also, as of tonight, I have started a blog! I'm not even really sure of how it all works yet.. but here is the link: http://www.atanycostnowandforever.blogspot.com/


I look forward to keeping in touch!

Amanda