"Wait passionately for God, don't leave the path."
Psalm 37:34  The Message

I don't wait well.  I never have.  I remember waiting in lines as a kid ... I'm sure my mother remembers those fond times too.  Traffic lights, drive thru lanes, the Secretary of State ... I just don't like waiting.

"Wait passionately for God ...".  Really?  Passionately?  As in the whole time we're waiting we're telling ourselves how much we love waiting; we love just sitting here doing nothing, wasting ti...  Uh oh.  That almost slipped out.  But I think God already knew how I planned on completing that thought.  He knows because He knows all of our thoughts ... and all of our faults.  He even knows how some of us don't like to wait.

I've never been one to blame God for difficult times, or for when things don't quite go the way I want them to.  However I do know that God will allow things to happen to us, through us, and around us.  I believe in my life He does that to build my character, and to remind me that He is God, not me.

For most of the past two years a lot has happened in my life.  I've undergone two major back surgeries, numbers four and five in the "series", to deal with the degenerative disease that I have.  Number four was in May of 2009.  Number five was February 2, 2010.  I wasn't even healed from the fourth when I had to have the fifth.  Three days after returning to work from my fifth surgery I was let go from the company I had worked for for almost 10 years.  So for most of the past two years this high "D" (see previous blog) has had a lot of down time.  There were other things that happened too, but let's not dwell on the past too much.

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength ...", Isaiah 40:31.  This verse is often quoted as those 'who wait upon the Lord', and that's fine, because in this case, hope and wait mean the same thing.  Or at least that's what the handwritten note in my Bible says.

So what am I getting at?  There's at least one person reading this who is wishing I'd get to the point.  They're tired of ... waiting.  So am I.  I'm tired of waiting while I send out resume after resume.  I was really tired of waiting for my back to heal just so I could go have another surgery.  I'm so tired of waiting for God to tell me what His Jeremiah 29 'plans' are for me.  I know how you feel ... waiting ... waiting ... waiting.  Guess what?  You don't have a choice.  Neither do I.  The verse doesn't say "If you want to, wait for the Lord", or "If there is nothing else to do at the moment, wait for the Lord."  It simply says wait, and don't leave the path.  Keep doing what you know to do.  Don't look at it as time that's 'wasted'.  God is renewing your strength for the next chapter in your life, for your next assignment.  Don't change course, don't abandon your beliefs, don't walk away from God.  You may think about doing all that, but don't.  You can get angry with God.  I don't think that bothers Him, because at least you'll be talking to Him ... even if it is in your outdoor voice.