Wait for it! – Ruth 3: 18 – 4: 2
• We have to wait
Choosing to wait and having it forced on you is something else.
Here are a few feelings that we need to overcome during the waiting period.
The feeling of helplessness: Then Naomi said, ‘Wait my daughter’ 3:18. Ruth would have accomplished nothing by following Boaz all over Bethlehem, trying to help him sort things out. So often we want to help God out, make things work and we just make things worse.
The feeling of anxiety: “As Pharoah approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them … Moses said ‘Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring.” Exodus 14:10,13. Sometimes the pressure and pain become intolerable. We panic because we cannot see a way out or a way through. You may be in a time of waiting now. God wants to replace your worrying with learning to rest in Him despite your difficulty.
The feeling of I’m going to land on my face any minute now!: Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10. Sometimes it would seem that the answer is not coming. It is then we need to ‘Be still’, meaning to take our hands off the situation and relax. He can accomplish the impossible without us. It is then that we will ‘Know’ Him.
Think of the actions of a trapeze artist:
The flyer must never try to catch the catcher. He must wait in absolute trust. The catcher will catch him. But he must wait. His job is not to flail about in anxiety. In fact, if he does, it could kill him. His job is to be still, to wait. And to wait is the hardest work of all.
Henri Nouwen
Will you be still, are you shouting catch me I’m falling or will you wait in stillness trusting that He will?
Missions Paul 