As I wrote last week, the gift of serenity and peace in the midst of clamour is a true gift. This week I’ve been thinking of the gift having eyes open to what God has in store for us.
One of the hardest things for me to accept is the challenge of waiting for answers. Now that our plans for retirement and “old age” have been scattered by my husband’s health issues, it has not been easy for me to accept the changes that followed. No more extended visits with family and/or friends, nor more attending evening events without carefully planned arrangements and no more church attendance together. Just getting through one day at a time seems to be the new reality. While he spends nearly all his time either sleeping or watching decades-old TV programs, I immerse myself in crossword puzzles. So often I find myself asking God: “Is this all there is?”
Opening the book I’d discovered in my own library, I read: “Whatever has not happened in a thousand years may happen in the next moment.” (Ladino). Also displaying great wisdom, an anonymous writer once penned: “Every mountain means at least two valleys.”
Here are just two Bible characters who learned to wait. David, the shepherd boy had a future above all he could have imagined but first he was abandoned by family, falsely accused by a woman and spent time in jail before being exalted to a position of leadership. The Apostle Paul was also falsely jailed and spent time chained to a guard before his death. In both cases they couldn’t see ahead but they allowed God to use them in their situations. Though physically unable to envision their future, their spiritual eyes were open.
“Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation.” (Psalm 62:1)
