Waiter

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! -- Psalms 27:14

It is human nature to cling and hold back – cling and complain.  Let it go, someone says.  You don’t understand, we reply.  If you were in this situation, if it were your child, your spouse, your house, your job, ….  Meanwhile we tell ourselves and anyone who can be cornered to listen how it ought to be.  Endlessly.  I don’t think this is what the Bible means by waiting.  Waiting requires a surrender of potential.

The highest point in Missouri is a place called Taum Sauk.  It seems like it is 1700+ feet above sea level, not exactly Everest, but it a true mountain created by volcanic uplift as opposed to erosion.  A few miles from the peak of the Taum Sauk ridge, on Proffit Mountain sits theTaum Sauk Hydroelectric Power Station.  Water has to be pumped to the upper reservoir of the generating plant, so the power station is really a giant backup battery to supply electricity for AmerenUE customers during peak demand.  Pumping water to that elevation creates a huge amount of potential energy.  We were given an idea of just how much energy on December 14, 2005 when the upper reservoir failed and poured a billion gallons of water down  into Johnson’s Shut-Ins StatePark.  Thankfully no one was killed.  The park superintendent, his wife and children were swept away in the flood but survived.

The water in the upper reservoir naturally sought “rest”, the lowest point it could find.  Its unleashed potential scoured a tree-covered hillside down to the bedrock before it found that rest. 

The intentional, controlled release of potential is beneficial.  If I voluntarily surrender to the Lord’s will and to His timing, I will find my rest in due season.  On the other hand, if I stubbornly cling to my high place, refusing to seek the lowest point of servitude, I will eventually have a dangerous and destructive fall. 

I belong to the Lord.  I am His servant.  What does a servant do?  He waits on his Master.  My potential is surrendered constructively and purposefully at the appropriate times in that service. 

Sit down. Shut Up. Hold On.

Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!

-- Psalm 27:14

God is never in a hurry. Nobody in heaven ever panics.

We are made in the image and likeness of God, but we are differentiated in this movement, this dance of time. Our hearts do grow weak, and our courage does fail us. Fear grows in us, and we say with Jeremiah: Harvest has passed, summer has ended, but we have not been saved.

I might fake bravery when I don’t have time to think about it. Fearlessness in the split second it takes to act can be beneficial. Waiting, though, takes the starch out of us; we wilt in waiting.

I am sure when Lazarus lay sick and dying, he and his sisters sent for Jesus in great faith and fortitude. Their hearts were strong and filled with hope. But the days dragged on as Lazarus grew weaker physically. Those standing by felt their faith grow weaker. When he died, their courage might have lasted for a few hours – Jesus had raised the dead before. The fourth day dawned. The sisters were no fools. Decay had set in. Lazarus had not been saved.

It did not mean that they were without some hope of resurrection and heaven. When Jesus challenged Martha she acknowledged that her brother would rise with the righteous at the last day. Like the grieving sister, most of us still manage to say the right words, even the profound and truthful. We know we must get up in the morning and go on. If our strength is gone, we can still stumble forward, keep breathing in hope of something -- though it maybe no more than a few hours of unconsciousness in sleep. The truth is that a distance hope of grand realities may be less sustaining, at times, than a near hope of a cup of coffee.

How often do I look at one thing or another and say it is too far gone. It can never come back. My inclination is to give up and turn away. Or just give up and embrace the hell of hopelessness. Wait. If I can’t keep from crying, I’ll cry -- and I’ll wait. If I am angry, I’m angry -- and I’ll wait. If I don’t understand, I’ll wait in ignorance. If I don’t know what to say, I’ll wait in silence. That’s always a good idea: shut up and wait. If I can’t wait another hour, I’ll wait five more minutes.

Wait, I say, on the LORD!

He doesn’t call us to have momentary, acute courage. We have to have chronic courage, sometimes for days, weeks, or grinding years. God is hushed; hushed is not silent. God is not rushed, but He is not unmoved.

It is the grinding pressure of time that makes a diamond -- and it is not done yet, for it must be cut. He doesn’t hurry, and He always gets it right – right on time.