In the Waiting

Written by: Nancy Purtlebaugh

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Galatians 4:4-5

Have you ever had to wait a long time for something? How well did you wait? What did you do while you waited? I think sometimes when we must wait many years for something, of course it lingers in the background, but typically we go about our lives. We can’t stop the turning of the earth or change the course of our lives while we are waiting. We can choose our reaction in the waiting. Sometimes that is easier said than done.

Back in 2002 my husband decided he wanted to change his career path. He had been working at a factory for years and had worked his way up from an hourly employee to upper management. While this was a great paying job, he had always dreamed of becoming a police officer. He decided he was going to enter the hiring process at a local police department at the encouragement of some friends of his. Honestly, we thought this would be easy peasy. He would just apply and get it. He was young, in great shape, had supervisory experience and many more qualities that would make him a great fit for this career. However, we would soon learn we were wrong. He would go through hiring process after hiring process at many local departments to be told no at each one. This would go on for many years-8 years to be exact. Typing this cannot convey the struggle, the pain, or the discouragement that ensued through this journey. We had many people praying for years. We didn’t understand what God was doing. In 2010 we sat down to pray through this. We were at a crossroads. He had only a few weeks left of the current process he was in. Over all these years Mike had been through every emotion you could think of-anger, sadness, disbelief, heartache, anger again-but on that day the word that comes to mind was surrender. His prayer was, “Lord, I am done with this. I don’t understand. It is near the end and I don’t think it’s going to happen. I give up. So, please just show me what to do. It’s in Your Hands.”

In Zach’s sermon on Sunday he spoke about the Jews who had been waiting on the Lord for 400 years. God was silent. They knew that He had spoken about a King, a Ruler to save them. Where was he? They knew what the prophets had to say:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him. Isaiah 11:1-2

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel……” Micah 5:2

And yet, nothing. To them the silence was deafening and God seemed like He had forgotten them. We know the rest of the story-they did not. We know that Mary would have a miraculous birth of Jesus, our Savior. During the 400 years between Micah and Matthew I am sure the Jews felt like God was absent from their lives.

However as Zach pointed out-God was working all along. He was working to spread a universal language, to develop Rome’s roads connecting the nations, all to prepare them for the birth of Jesus. He was preparing them for something greater than they could imagine. God was using the waiting to align the hearts of His people to His will. He can use the waiting to invite us to a deeper relationship with Him, where we begin to trust Him more. His timing is perfect.

Mike wanted to be a police officer back in 2002 as I said earlier. We didn’t start actively going to church until 2004. During that time, God was transforming a young man into who HE wanted him to be. Also during that time God was working on us and our marriage. God was developing skills in Mike that would make him who he is today. Less than 2 weeks after that prayer Mike prayed in 2010 he got the call that they wanted to hire him as a Sheriff’s deputy for Johnson County. (Where he still is today!) God was waiting on Mike’s surrender as well as his trust. If God had allowed Mike to be hired back in 2002, I am not sure he would be the same police officer he is today. I’m also not sure our marriage would have survived it. God knew. He sees the whole picture. We have to allow Him to take over in the waiting. The waiting was worth it. He sent his son for us, won’t He do it?? It might look different than we could ask or imagine-but His plan and timing is always better.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14