God and Waiting…

Several years back our family vacation to Maine provided one of those unique opportunities to learn the fine art of waiting. With young kids we figured we could make the trip from Jersey to Maine in several days. Here is what we pictured: Arriving leisurely at the hotel in the afternoon, swimming with the kids, and a casual breakfast the next morning. Here is what we didn’t picture: Stop and go traffic on I-95 the entire length of the Eastern Seaboard, arriving at our hotel at 10:00 PM, and several very tired kids. You guessed it: The first picture was a fairy-tale, the second one reality!

Our first night’s stop was at Plymouth. The next day we met seasoned actors who portrayed for us the first pilgrims. I was stuck again by their peacefulness. Here I had just traveled more land miles in one day, than most of them would travel in a lifetime. Yet the early pilgrims were satisfied to put in a full-days work, get a good night’s rest, fear God, and read their Scriptures. (It caused me to wonder how I was doing on those last two items in our two-day scramble to Maine). It also caused me to think about vacations for all of us. Sometimes we are in such a hurry: We don’t want to miss one moment in the mountains, or one-second in the surf.

Have we given adequate time to renew our soul in the Scriptures, or sufficient time to let our heart dwell upon fearing God?  Could that be the reason the pilgrims seemed to live peaceful lives, and we struggle to even have a peaceful vacation?

Isaiah said: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31). So this season learn a lesson from the pilgrims: fear God, and spend some time in the Scriptures, it might even make your waiting worth your while.

0 Comments on “God and Waiting…”

  1. Pehaps if we could learn to “slow down’ a bit in our lives we would be able to hear the voice of God

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *