April 24, 2000

Dear Friends,

We are losing the art of waiting. Patience, long-suffering and endurance seem to be things of the past. We want everything now, today, yesterday if possible. Our impatience, though, is understandable. So many of the things we use are already prepared that we often lose sight of the fact that some things take time. They just take time. We are forgetting how to wait.

My great-aunt Geneva and my Uncle Charlie knew how to wait. They lived on a small farm about five miles from town. Her Sunday dinners, which took time to prepare, were true labors of love. She caught, cleaned, cut, breaded and fried chicken to a delectable golden brown. She scrubbed, diced, boiled, mashed, and topped potatoes with a dollop of newly churned butter. Her lettuce and her tomatoes were fresh from the garden, her hoe cakes hot from the griddle . . . Mmmm . . . A few weeks ago, I made the same meal - in fifteen minutes. Instant mashed potatoes, microwave-able chicken, and a pre-mixed salad.

*****

Psalm 27:14 (in part)

The word, wait, reverberates from one end of the Bible to another. Job declares in the midst of his trials: Aall the days of my appointed time I will wait til my change come (Job 14:14).@ Isaiah proclaims that: Athey that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength . . . (Isaiah 40:31).@ In Habakkah 2:3 (in part) we read: AFor the vision is yet for an appointed time . . . thought it tarry, wait for it.@ And, in the book of Acts, Jesus commands his disciples: Do not leave Jerusalem, Abut wait for the promise of the Father . . . (Acts 1:4).@ They waited. And, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon them as Acloven tongues@ of fire (cf. Acts 2:3). When we wait on the Lord, we never wait in vain.

Tell me, how often have you heard these words: AHe may not come when you want Him, but He=s always on time?@ These words reflect an unwavering belief that whenever the Lord comes, whenever he moves, He won=t be too late. It is this belief, this hope, that gives us the patience to wait. For, waiting and patience go hand in hand and we can do neither without faith. AWait, I say, on the Lord.@

In the Master=s Love,

8Copyright, Brenda Williams Waters, 2000 Rivers of Living Waters Publishing