The Victory That Comes In Waiting
“And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land”
(I Kings 17:7).
Just how long Elijah camped out beside the brook, no one knows, but he remained there until it dried up. Consistency is an important thing when we realize that he could have grown impatient with the wait and gone on his merry way.
Elijah could have said, “My miracle has come….my belly is full…there’s nothing more to be had here.” But he did not do or say those things. The prophet simply waited by the brook until it dried up.
Again, he must have thought of what his next move would be…“the brook is dry, so where do I go from here?” However, waiting for a clear and certain sound from heaven meant the miracle remained and allowed for divine arrangements to be made for someone else.
After we have been blessed and God has come through right at our point of no return…right when we think we now have it all together, another situation seems to explode before our eyes. It looks as if our brook has once again dried up and we are left wondering, “What now?”
It is just a natural reaction to think this way, but as consistency and patiently waiting were important for the prophet, so it for us. Waiting with patience is such a hard thing…at least for me. The temptation is often overwhelming at times to run as far from the problem as possible, try to work it out myself, or wait with a grumbling attitude.
The problem with all of this is, first, running solves nothing. When I stop running, the problem is still there. Second, if I had the answers and could fix things myself, I might not be in this situation at all. Finally, waiting while complaining is not waiting at all and has actually moved me back into more uncertainty and problems.
I would have been further ahead to just sit and cry, “Okay, God…here I am again, where do I go from here?” Someone told me long ago, “Every time the Lord tries to bless you, you have moved from your place!” I felt the witness in my spirit and knew she was right. I had cried, “Where is God?” not realizing that God was where He had always been, right where I left Him. I was the one who had moved.
Allow me to stop here and admonish you to not be afraid of tears…crying is not a bad thing. Tears are an outlet and a healthy release.
It is when we wallow in our grief and distress with the ‘pity party’ song playing in the background, that we err. But shedding tears and asking questions, seeking direction, is not wrong. It is acknowledgment that we are frail humanity and desperately need God to intervene.
It is not hard to figure out that if I could fix every problem on my own, I would not need God’s assistance. If I could save myself, His death and resurrection would be meaningless. If I knew it all and had all the answers, I’d be on Oprah, telling it and making big money.
The truth is I can’t fix everything, I couldn’t save myself, and
hard as it is to believe, I don’t know it all. I am just flesh, in need of Almighty God to order my steps.
Ordering my steps is not dictatorship because I do have a choice…to listen and follow His leading or go my own way. Ordering my steps simply means that He will
direct, prescribe, instruct, command, tell, require, bid, ordain.
The New Living Translation records that “
the steps of the godly are directed by the Lord” (Psalm 37:23).
As a well trained conductor directs the orchestra with the precision of the baton, so the Maestro of our souls is conducting our lives with His loving hand. He is not confused or making it up as He goes along…He knows the melody of our life and what He is doing. It is up to us to receive this direction and recognize His divine arrangements when they are made.
We can move from our place, shake our head, crying “It’s always something,” and in the process, miss our blessing. We have the choice of laying down and refusing to get up or we can look to the hills from whence cometh our help, our source of strength and sustenance, declaring that our help is in the Lord, and realize that, like Elijah, our miracle is just around the corner in Zaraphath.
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