Waiting...

It's Peacock nesting time here on the farm.  And Mama Hen's due date is nearing fast!  We can hardly wait...

Honey, our faithful farm dog, is beside herself with anticipation!

Or maybe it's hunger.  Did she just lick her chops?!

No worries, Papa Peacock has been keeping guard!

Actually, more like Pacing.  Poor Papa!

But the end is in sight.  Only a few more days.  After all, it only takes 28 days to hatch out Peacock eggs.  We're not talking elephants here!

Well, ok, easy for me to say...

But when you're waiting, even 28 days can seem like an eternity. 

And we know a little something about waiting.  Anyone who has lived with cancer knows about waiting...

Waiting for the test results... Waiting for the doctor... Waiting to see if the chemo has worked... Waiting to make plans for the "rest" of your life... Waiting for good news...

And dreading the Bad News with every fiber of our being.

Waiting can be a tortuous time.  Hard on a body, hard on the emotions, hard on the spirit.

Even the Bible Heroes of old had a tough time with the Waiting.  Moses struck the rock in anger waiting on the Israelites to cease their grumbling, Jonah ran in fear rather than waiting on the Lord to equip him for his calling, and Sara grew old waiting on the Lord to give her a son.  Might I add, she even laughed when told she would bear a child in her old age.

Waiting does that to a person.  It's not easy to sink in to the waiting.  How to quiet a mind that's racing with "what-ifs?"  or "could-bes?"  To relinquish the outcome, because it's already out of our hands...

Maybe that's why I love the Psalms so much.  David's perspective is so dead-on.  He was annointed Israel's chosen king when he was just a teen, but he had to wait many years, and endure many struggles before being able to rightfully take the throne.  Yet, through it all, he chose to relinquish the outcome and leave it in God's mighty Hand.  David was honest with the emotional upheaval in his life, we see it over and over in verse.  But his faith rings true as he proclaims an implicit trust in the goodness of God, despite his circumstances.

Psalm 27 is just such a song.  Read it all, keep it close, but for today, let me share the last two verses.  They are a beautiful encouragement for all of us who wait:

"I am still confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord."

                 ~ Psalm 27:13-14

If you are waiting today, take courage, trust in His mighty Hand for whatever is coming.  And prepare to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living...

Waiting with you in Grace, Jane