"WAITING ON THE LORD"

One of the amazing attributes of our God is that He uses different and creative ways to get our attention!  Some times He gets our attention in a dramatic way, like He did for me in 2011, or He can get your attention in a quiet, more subtle approach like He did with young Samuel, in the temple.  Our God uses the method that He deems appropriate for each one of us.  He wants to know if we are listening to Him.  I heard Him loud and clear on April 6th, 2011, when Homeland Security arrived at my house, and now I have heard Him with a still small voice.

This Fall, when I was under house-arrest, I had to commute from Pittsville to Spencer, where I worked to assemble bee hives for my employer.  I was not required to punch a time clock, since I was paid by the number of boxes I built.  I took my time on my way to and from work, so I could soak in the beauty of the Fall season.  There seemed to be an unusually high concentration of Bald Eagles this year, as I would see them almost every day.  When I saw them on a field or soaring in the air, I would find a place to pull over and just watch them.  I am fascinated by these birds.  I could watch them all day long!  These birds are so large, yet lean; they are strong, they exude confidence in their posture.  The best part is watching them in flight.  Their wings seem to work effortlessly as they propel themselves into the air currents.  They soar on the winds, gliding over the fields, looking for prey.  I love watching these majestic birds.  Little did I know then that God was speaking to me.  It was as if He wanted me to study them so I could recall it at a future date.

If you have read my previous blog posts about my experience in Terre Haute, which I have "lovingly" renamed Terror Hut, you probably noted that I was being challenged to "prove my Faith".  I must say here that my Faith was given a real work out!  I would love to tell you that I passed with high marks, but I'm not there yet.  There is a lot of room for improvement.   While I was there, and before I got my F.M. Radio, I tried to recall the words and tunes of some of my favorite worship songs from church.  I would remember the words, but not the melody or the other way around.  I never really thought about committing them to memory.  Finally, I had part of a song come to my mind and am certain that God placed it there.  I only remembered a few words and the melody that went with it... "Strength will rise as I wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, I will wait upon the Lord..."   This is all I could recall of the song and I couldn't get it out of my head.  So I said to God, "I am waiting on You, please give me strength!!"

When I was transferred to Ohio, this tune was stuck in my head the whole trip.  I knew God was reminding me to not get lost in my fear and anxiety, but to be confident because HE IS MY GOD!

It was over a week at Elkton before I was able to get a Bible in my cell.  On the third day of my stay, there was a man on the "range" passing out devotional books; "Our Daily Bread" and "Today".   I got his attention and asked him for a copy.  He slid them through the gap on the door jamb.  I pulled them through and headed for my bunk to read them.  I took out some paper and wrote down the scripture verses on it.  The first verse I found was the theme verse for "Our Daily Bread" which is:  "Those who WAIT on the Lord shall renew their strength".  Isaiah 40:31a.

I received a letter from my beautiful wife and in this letter she was telling me about the message she heard at our home church, Northridge.  Pastor Jason is going behind the scenes of Christmas Carols.  The scripture used that Sunday was in Lamentations 3:20-24.  However, Jeannie found additional verses and included them in her letter.  "I say to my self, the Lord is my portion, therefore I will WAIT for Him.  The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to WAIT QUIETLY for the salvation of the Lord."  Lamentations 3:24-27.

Are you seeing a "pattern" here????

I tuned into one of the pastors I enjoy listening to on the radio:  David Jeremiah, from "Turning Point Ministries".  He has been teaching a series about courage.  He was speaking about the Discipline of WAITING!  He had my attention, so I grabbed some paper and my pen.  The key verse was Isaiah 40:31, but he included the second half of the verse which reads: "They will soar on wings like EAGLES; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

When he read this verse, I recalled the eagles I watched this Fall as they soared over the fields.  I remembered the freedom they had as they rode the wind.  God is promising us this same strength and freedom if we will WAIT on Him.

Waiting is a lost art in a world where we crave instant gratification.  This used to be true for me, as well.  It was difficult to block out time in a busy schedule to sit and wait in silence on the Lord.  My mind would bounce around on all the things I needed to do or forgot to do.  It would be much easier if God would give us ATM's so we could drive up to it, enter our secret pin code and wait for God to dispense his strength to us.  I wonder if some of us go to church expecting the same results?  We sing the songs, we listen to the preacher, shake some hands and say, "OK, I have waited on the Lord, now I am strong enough!"  That is not what God is asking us to do.  Waiting on the Lord is just the opposite.  It is something that we need to do EVERYDAY, so that when the storms of life come our way, we will have the strength to  soar right through them.  We need to learn how to wait in silence before God and eliminate the distractions around us.

You would think this would be easy for me since all I do is sit around in a cell and listen to radio preachers.  The problem with that is I still have the same mind, that thinks about all the projects I left unfinished at our house, or about the uncertainty of my future.  I may not have all the distractions I had when I was free, but I still need to learn to turn down the noise from the inside.  Then I will be able to wait in silence before the Lord.  Then I will gain new strength.  So I can soar like an eagle.

So God is creative in how He speaks to us.  He uses different ways to get His point across to those whom He loves.  The question you need to ask yourself is, "Am I listening for that still small voice of God?"  And if you are, do you obey HIm?  I am still learning how to do that.  I am thankful that I am in a place with God where He doesn't have to use drastic measures to get my attention!  I much prefer the quiet voice of God.

I plan to spend my time tuning out the "noise" and waiting quietly before my God.  I want to learn the Discipline of Waiting.  There is some very good scripture about waiting on God.  Go and listen to the podcast on the "Turning Point" website with Dr. Jeremiah.  I felt compelled to share this with you all today.  I pray that it can be used by God to help someone else, as it did me.

God Bless!!
McFreedom