When there's another season of waiting

On a recent beach trip, I rose earlier than my crowd to take painting reference photos at sunrise. I’m always surprised to see how many folks are on the shore that early in the morning waiting for the sun to peep above the horizon. With beach blankets spread, entire families gaze east waiting for the fiery gold and orange hues to spread across the sky.

Words from the Psalmist come to mind, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning” (Psalm 130:5-6).

That word wait in the original language has some interesting nuances. It can mean bound together, expect, hope for or look for.

In seasons of waiting, when we don’t know what the future may hold, our best and highest path should be to watch for the Lord and trust his word. In fact, we should bind ourselves to Him and not let go. Just as those on the beach watching at dawn, with every expectation the sun would rise at the precise minute, we also should fix our eyes on the Lord, confident he will move at the right time.

As the Psalmist says, we should wait for the Lord MORE than the watchmen wait for the morning.

Here at our house, we are once more in a season of waiting. This one has been going on for some time. But really, don’t we all go through these one after another? Sometimes, I think we are professional waiters because we are always waiting for something, especially in the medical arena. In fact, as I search for topics I’ve written about in the past, waiting shows up several times—one as recently as this past spring.

Yet, today, our hearts are at peace because we have fixed our eyes on the Lord. When I feel myself wavering in my faith, I can point to any number of times, God has done things for us that we never saw coming, but yet were right on time. And because we have been through those seasons of waiting, and can remember his faithfulness in the past, we trust he will continue to be in the future.

If you find yourself in a season similar to ours, write down the times he has previously shown up in mighty ways for you, maybe even unexpected ways. God has not changed and he will continue to be true to His character.

So, more than watchmen wait for the morning for the glory of the sunrise, we wait for His glory. 

Beverly Varnado writes from a desk with a view of woodpeckers, cardinals, chipmunks, and squirrels. Inside, Wilbur the cat prances across her keyboard and her dog, Lucy, slumbers beside her on a big pillow. When she's not writing, she's cleaning up after animals. She is a published author as well as a screenwriter, blogger, and artist. Her most recent book is another in a series of small town romances, A New Thing. She has also written a middle grade historical, In Search of the Painted Bunting from Elk Lake Publishing. Her blog, One Ringing Bell, has nearly 1,000 posts in its archives. Her work has been featured on World Radio, in the Upper Room Magazine, and in many other periodicals, anthologies, and online sites. She has been a finalist for the prestigious Kairos Prize in screenwriting and has other non-fiction and fiction books available. She also enjoys participating in gallery exhibits. She lives in North Georgia with her husband, Jerry, and is Mom to three and Mimi to two. Learn more at https://linktr.ee/BeverlyVarnado