While I Wait

I know, I have already talked about this song, but it has really caught my attention. I mainly listen to Southern Gospel, but do like some CCM (Christian Contemporary) and Praise & Worship occasionally, and this song falls into the CCM category. I find myself listening to the song and/or watching the music video over and over, and weird as it may sound, I find myself fighting tears every time.

John Waller, author and singer of the song "While I'm Waiting" gives his reason for writing the song: "The explanation for this song is simple, I was waiting on God and I was hurting when I wrote the lyrics. I probably wouldn’t have written a song if my friend, Mike, hadn’t encouraged me to document what I was going through during that time. I’m sure there are few people who can’t relate to this song, but the important thing to remember while we’re waiting on God is to not just wait but to actively wait. Serve, worship and be faithful with what you have, where you are… “even while (you) wait.”

I think he has nailed it. I imagine there are many people who can relate to the song. I sure can. I hate to wait. I am probably one of the most impatient people on the earth. If I am hungry, I want to eat now. If there is a new book out by my favorite author, I want to read it now, and in one sitting. And if I need help from God, I want it now. I don't want to just have faith that He will do it.........someday. I want results now.

When we pray and want answers, God doesn't always say "yes". Sometimes, the answer is "no", and sometimes, a "wait" can be worse than "no". The single young girl/woman prays desperately that God will send someone into her life that she can love and marry, but no one comes, so she waits. The cancer-ridden patient, and their family, prays for healing, and it doesn't happen, so they wait. A nation prays that the most liberal pro-abortion candidate ever, will not win the presidency, but he does, and so we wait.

Thing is, there are no rest stops in the Christian life. God doesn't always act as fast as we want Him to. He doesn't always deliver when we expect Him, nor how. He doesn't always provide when we think we need Him to the worst, but we can't sit back and wait. If we do, we become useless to Him, and an easy target for the devil. That is where faith comes in. As Job said "Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him".

We can go for long periods of time where it seems God doesn't care, yet, as the song says, we have to keep running the race, keep trusting Him. There is a part of the music video that gives me chills pretty much every time I watch it. A fireman is climbing the tall ladder of the ladder truck. As he climbs, the song is at this point: "I will move ahead, bold and confident, Taking every step in obedience". As he nears the top, the cameras angle to show the top of the ladder, and it is just reaching into the sky. There is nothing to climb to, except the end of the ladder.

The idea I get, and I assume it is no accident, is that is how our walk with God must be. One of faith. At times, it may seem we are climbing a tall ladder that drops off into space, yet we are to trust Him, and keep on climbing, having faith that when we get to the top of the ladder, there will be another, or He will catch us.

Anymore, my life feels like I am living in a snow globe that someone has furiously shaken. I have prayed for help in my finances, job, and other areas of my life, and nothing improves. I know I have pulled back in my relationship with God, and have pretty much had the attitude that if He does that, answers that prayer, then I will trust Him, and have faith. And then, I will work on my relationship with Him, and start climbing that ladder again.

Unfortunately, God doesn't work that way. God asks you to keep climbing the ladder, even though it seems to end in mid-air, or jump off the cliff without showing the safety net that is below.

God says they that wait on the Lord will renew their strength, but His idea of waiting, and ours is totally different. With His, we do have to keep running the race, living the Christian life day by day, even though all hell seems bent on sidetracking us.

I am sure every Christian has something they are waiting for God to do. I do. You do. Yet we cannot pause a moment while running this race. The prize is out there someday, and the track we are running on may not aways be smooth and level. All too often, it can be a lonely, rough, and uphill run, yet we can't give up, we can't stop and sip lemonade in the shade. We can, and should, pray daily for God to answer those prayers, to provide for the needs we and others have, but while we wait for Him to act, we must keep running, worshiping, trusting. And if He asks us to climb that ladder, we must climb. Faith isn't easy. If it were, if we could see the end result, it wouldn't be faith.

While I’m waitingI will serve You

While I’m waitingI will worship

While I’m waitingI will not faint

I’ll be running the race

Even while I wait