"Wait"

Here's a poem that my bible study group from back home emailed me. I really like this poem because so often we struggle with this issue of patience and waiting when it comes to decisions in life. We think we know what's best a lot of the time and forget that God sees the bigger picture and knows what's best for us. And during our period of wait - whether we're waiting for our career to take off, a spouse, or whether we should switch majors or not - we can use the opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and get to know him in a more intimate way.


"Wait" - by Russell Kelfer (although this is a slightly revised version)

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, he replied
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate
The Master said gently, "Child, you must 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, 'Wait?'
I am needing a 'Yes' or a 'Go ahead' sign
Or even a 'No' to which I could resign.
And Lord, you have promised that if we believe
We need but to ask and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry,
I am weary of asking, I need a reply!"
And quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
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 the mountains to run,
All you seek I could give and pleased you would be
You would 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 I give to the faint
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there
You'd not know the joy of just resting in Me
When darkness and silence is all you can see
You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You'd know that I give and I save for a start
But you'd not know the depth and beat of My heart
The glow of My comfort late in the night
The faith that I give when you walk without sight
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
An infinite God who makes what you have last.
And you never would know
Should your pain quickly flee
What it means that, My grace is sufficient for thee!
Yes, your dreams for that loved one
O're night would come true
But the loss, if you 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 get to know Me.
And how often may My answers seem terribly late
My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT!'"