One word. So is: Mountain! They both make me think of another word: Strength.
It ties together for me because it takes a mountain of strength for me to: WAIT!
'Wait upon the Lord. He will renew your strength. You will rise up with wings of eagles. Fly and grow not weary.'
Wait is a difficult command for this generation of high speed everything. I have said this during frustrating moments, probably some of you have heard it too.
"Lord, grant me patience, but please hurry!"
Wait for delayed flights. Wait in traffic. Wait to get home. Wait for someone else to get home. Wait in the grocery line.
We wait and we murmur and complain about the wait.
With the onset of winter we wait impatiently for the arrival of spring.
Even the words 'Waiting Room' in any office can put us in a dower mood.
And we wait on the Lord for our answers to our prayers.
This may help to put our waiting time in perspective.
There's a story in the Gospel of St. Luke about Simeon who waited and waited for God to answer his prayer.
He was a righteous man who prayed as he waited for the promise of Salvation to be delivered.
When Joseph and Mary brought the infant Jesus to be dedicated to God, Simeon was moved by the Holy Spirit. He praised God and said: 'As You promised, my eyes have seen Your salvation.'
Can you imagine Simeon's joy as he held the infant Jesus and blessed Him, after all that time of waiting?
We too, will have joy when we get our answers if we wait and do not grow weary.
Is there a prayer that you have been waiting for what feels like a lifetime?
I have a few of those too.
Believe it or not, writing them in a journal does help. It works for me because I can look back and see how many of them have been answered, some completely, some partially.
The reality is that we do go through times and feel nearly forgotten by the Lord. That is the exact time we need to see our prayers in writing and get the assurance as we recall we felt that same way during those times in the past.
We weren't forgotten because He was answering a prayer at that very time.
This is how prayers come full circle and become our BLESSINGS ***
Excerpt from the book "101 Blessings" written by local author and
Bayview Church blog contributor Marlane Lillian Mazur.
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