What God is doing while we wait....

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:14 (NKJV)

The countdown has been on here at the Ferris house for about a week.  Madeline was going to have a sleep over with her best friend and it has been one of the longest weeks for her.  Each day she has given us the new countdown:  6 days left, 5 days left, 4 days left…..two hours left, etc…  It just makes me smile!  It’s so hard to be patient when we long for something so much.  Many of you know of our journey to Rochester, Illinois and the holding pattern we are in due to our housing situation.  Waiting has been so difficult, yet I write today to share with you what God has done and is doing in this waiting period.  He has not wasted this time and continues to do amazing things.  He deserves all the glory and praise!

August 3, 2012 on our way to visit Brad, we were caught up in the traffic that was backed up due to the double- decker Megabus crash that took place on I-55.  Both directions of I-55 were closed.  Our four hour trip was extended to a seven hour trip that day.  When I merged onto I-55 that afternoon, Brad called to tell me about the accident and how to get around it.  Unfortunately, traffic was so backed up that we got caught up in it anyway.  I was amazed though at the people around me.  These people had no idea what had happened up ahead and were angry and frustrated.  We watched a UHaul Truck drag a car on the shoulder just so they couldn’t reenter traffic.  I was sure another wreck was going to take place.  People driving down the shoulder of the road zoomed by our van in an attempt to avoid waiting.  I knew what was up ahead so it was easy to wait.  It’s so much easier to wait when we know the reason why or when we know the end is in sight.  However, where’s the faith in that?  God used that day to show me I was just like those around me.  I was being impatient with Him and his plan for us.  Ouch!

I’m a person that likes a neat calendar and to do list to guide each day.  When those details are missing, I tend to struggle.  That’s where I’ve been the last two months.  I’ve been struggling with how things are right now with the separation of our family.  Has God forgotten us here in Newburgh? Everyone else seems to be moving on, but why not us?  Is there a sin I need to repent of?   Has God been listening to our prayers and those offered on our behalf?   Do we need to take a step of faith somewhere?  Is there still work here left for me to do before it’s time to go?  Maybe our house there isn’t ready yet?  Is God protecting us from a bad situation with a different house?  Do we drop the price on the house?  Make more changes or updates to the house to attract sellers?  Do we rent the house??

We want to honor God with our choices and stay within His plan for us.  The Bible is full of stories where people tried to take matters into their own hands to “work” out God’s plan and trouble was the result – Sarah gave Abraham Hagar to fulfill the promise for a child, Saul went ahead with the sacrifice because Samuel was late, Jacob deceived Isaac for the blessing.   Jumping ahead of God or trying to work ahead of God is not a good idea.   It’s so hard to know what to do sometimes because while we need to wait on the Lord, we also need to do our part and be prepared.  As I look back to what has happened these last four months, God has been silent, but He has been extremely busy working things out for our good.  

Brad has been rock steady this whole time and has tried to encourage me by reminding me that God is going to do something great for us.  While I KNOW God has plans for a hope and a future and He can do things beyond our imagination….there are times my feelings don’t line up with what I know.   So when he says that, there is that part of me that wants to just stick my tongue out at him and go, “PTHTHTHTHTTHTHTHTHTH!”   It’s so irritating!  However, that isn’t the mature, respectful or appropriate response because the bottom line is that he is right.   God has a plan and we need to wait on Him.  Waiting on the Lord is hard.

These last few months have made me rely on God in a new way and God has strengthened my heart just as the Scripture above stated.  My faith has been stretched and I’ve been challenged to discover the lessons God may be teaching me during this time and to trust Him even when He is silent.   It’s been an opportunity to teach our children about God’s timing and waiting on God.   God has allowed Brad and me to reconnect in a deeper way than we ever would have otherwise.  We’ve been courting again these past months and have been able to talk about things we never have before in 19 years of marriage and learn and discover new things about each other.  There is a deeper appreciation for Brad has the head of the household from the children, too.  We have learned to treasure our family time and one another.  All things we couldn’t have learned otherwise had we transitioned sooner than later.  God has taken this situation and is working it for good, and we are being blessed through it.

Today God has opened a door for us and we dropped the price on our home again in hopes this will be the step that will bring us a buyer.  Will it?  I don’t know, but He does and that’s enough.  There is a peace in my heart again and so I wait knowing His plan is better than mine.  I will wait when He is silent.  I will wait when it’s hard.  I will wait when I miss Brad and when I am tired and when things break.  I will wait so He can be honored.  I will wait so He can be praised.  I will wait so He gets all the glory!  I will wait on the Lord!

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD ; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.  Micah 7:7