My first summer job, maybe I was thirteen I don’t know, it was a strange one… Strange but not hard but not one I would choose again for that age. My neighbors paid me while they went to work, just to be in their house certain days to just be present with their mom who was pretty much bedridden and non-communicative. She honestly was barely breathing, and I don’t know if maybe she came to on occasion, I don’t know if she ate, but not when I was there. It was eerie to sit in the house and no one had a cell phone for activity those days, did have the landline and they would call once or twice or so. It was just waiting… waiting…
This is what I feel like, in a small part, now, waiting on my cat to pass away at some point because she has gone down hill so much. Waiting… But are we doing enough? Are we doing too much? What are we waiting for?
Our cat is not waiting to be held, she hated that. Not waiting on food – scoffs at it after a little uptick which is now gone. Waiting? Or is the Lord waiting? Maybe the Lord is waiting for us to come to terms – or at least acknowledge that we do – and/or is the Lord taking His time for His natural course of things – likely – and we wait…
I’m sure we often are waiting for the LORD as if we’re waiting for Him to act, as if He isn’t. And yet, He IS active, all the time. The Lord is involved in everything. Whether you believe He started the process or He tweaks the system all the time, here on earth and in the heavens, it’s still waiting on our part. I know He is involved in minute details – at least tasked His angels to minister – and I know that the angels ministering to my cat have been very active over these years. The angels surely are not waiting around – neither should we be…
I don’t remember how long that summer I was working – weeks? couple or more? I remember being bored but I also remember worrying if she was still breathing, and I would spy closer, check movement, never touched her. It was just plain eerie. Maybe I watched a little TV, maybe I did puzzles or crosswords… I just remember watching the clock. I don’t know why I couldn’t just come in once an hour, instead I sat in a strange house and waited.
Today there is much to do without sitting – there is internet, streaming, and oh yeah cleaning the house – I even went outside and mowed the grass over a course of an afternoon – lots of breaks. I even did a crossword puzzle – big one at moderate skill level – almost finished it!
What I do know – is that waiting is an opportunity. Life is a puzzle but we are NOT required to figure it all out. Just keep playing along…
Jeremiah lamented words of sorrow of the times but acknowledged the goodness of God. Maybe in life we are just waiting until we recognize even trials as good.
We are waiting to recognize God’s Plan.
God is waiting for us to see that too…
AMEN
From Jeremiah’s Lamentations 3 NIV: I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord”.
Debbie Upper 