God's Most Precious Answer

On Tuesday I board a plane for Africa and land in Johannesburg, South Africa on Wednesday. Why did I have to wait so long? God knows the full answer but a few blessings inlcude: extra time with family and friends, having several much needed conversations, seeing my brother interact with his new girlfriend, and spending time with my first Portuguese tutor.

There are still other areas of my life where I am waiting to see what God will do. It is hard to wait, but I frequently go back to this poem and am reminded of God's most precious answer. He has a purpose in all He does, including extended periods of waiting. 

Wait

by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate

And the Master so genlty said, "Wait"

"Wait? You say wait?" my indignant reply

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is Your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming Your Word

"My future and all to which I relate

Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to wait?

I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign

Or even a 'no' to which I can resign

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe

We need but to ask, and we shall receive

And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied again "Wait"

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut

And grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine

and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run

"I could give all you seek, and pleased you would be

You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me

You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence are all you can see

"You'd never experience the fullness of love

When the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart

"The glow of my comfort late into the night

The faith that I give when you walk without sight

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God Who makes what you have last

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee

What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true

But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to truly know Me

And though oft My answers seem terribly late

My most precious answer of all is still ... Wait."