Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: In the Waiting

Christina and me at She Speaks.

Before we left for Massachusetts to visit my family, my sister suggested I take a "Christian blogging hiatus," while I am there. "I mean take a real hiatus," she said. "Like, don't get on the computer at all." I hesitated...I am a control freak you know. But then I realized she was right: I need to take a break. {I am even leaving my laptop at home!}

So...in light of that, I am honored  to welcome my friend Christina Fox here to guest post for the Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday Community. I had the absolute delight of meeting Christina in person at She Speaks recently, and she is just wonderful: sweet, honest and true.

Be sure to check out Christina's blog, To Show Them Jesus, and give her a little "Like" on her Facebook page!

And thanks, Christina, for hosting the community here today.

I do not like to wait for anything. Patience is not one of my virtues. Having children has only exacerbated this lack in me. Yet, life requires waiting--waiting for the kids to get ready, for the computer to wake up, for a return text, for my turn in line, etc.

I know that waiting is good for me and that I can learn much while in the valley. Too often though, when I wait for God to move or answer a question, I attempt to push things along. Do you ever do that? I try to help Him make a decision or ensure His will comes to fruition (as though I could). I go on ahead without an answer or direction. When I face a junction in my life, I turn down a road without knowing if it's even the path He wants me to take.

Recently, I spent time with the Israelites in Exodus chapter thirty-two. They were about as impatient as I and this passage reminded me of my problem with waiting on the Lord. Moses was on the mountain with God, receiving the Law, inscribed by God's own hand.The people waited at the bottom of the mountain, restless and agitated. With Aaron's help, they made a golden calf and began to worship it.

"When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Exodus 32:1

Whenever I read this passage, I always think, "Didn't they know better?" Yes. They did know better. But perhaps what they knew to be true hadn't made its way to their heart. They knew the power of God. They knew that His timing is perfect. They knew He would lead them where they needed to go. After all, they had seen Him open the sea and turned it into a road, allowing them to walk to the other side. They had seen Him rescue and save them from slavery. Yet, they could not wait for Him and His word.

This story reflects my own heart. I know I need to trust God for my future. I know He has a good plan for me. I know I need to wait for His answer before I move forward.

The knowing has to sink into the heart before faith can be lived out in the waiting.

When Moses returned to the Israelites and found them worshiping an idol of their own making, he was so angry he broke the Law in pieces. God was angry and wanted to wipe them out from existance. I don't want to be found making idols because I'm too impatient to wait for God's perfect timing in my life. I don't want to be so impatient with God that I move on and follow my own plans. And I don't want to just know that God is faithful, I want to also live like He is faithful.

I want what my mind knows to be true to be what my heart lives out as the truth.

After all, haven't I seen Him part the waters in my own life? Hasn't He rescued me from slavery to sin? Haven't I witnessed His grace in each and every breath I take?

Even now, as I wait for answers in my life, I ask for grace to live faithfully in this valley. I pray that I will live in today, not pushing the present into the future. And instead of filling my heart with idols of my making, I will wait for His word to return from the mountain to this valley below. Remembering His past faithfulness, I await HIs perfect timing.

What about you? What are you waiting for?


Christina Fox is a writer, blogger, and coffee drinker--not necessarily in that order. She is a licensed mental health counselor with an M.S. in Counseling Psychology. A mom to two active boys, she spends her days answering all their questions while asking God plenty of her own. You can find her blogging at To Show Them Jesus and on Facebook.

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