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August 26, 2008
If there is one thing I can’t stand doing more than anything else, it would have to be waiting.
So, what do you think Jay Thomas’ sermon was about this past Sunday?
Yup!
Waiting and Faith.
Assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Not purely emotional.
Not merely behavior.
Not just an inward feeling, but an anchor.
Faith comes in the gap of time between the prayer and the answer.
Right now, Paul and I are uncertain of what is ahead of us. We’re waiting for a clear answer. It’s an uncomfortable gap to be in.
But of course when I look back at the stones of rememberance, I’m ashamed at my tendency to squirm. God has always provided. I could make a list that starts way back in 1971 when social workers who were strangers to me found me in California, and my mom flew out to bring me back home to Pennsylvania. Or the time when my mom didn’t have enough money to pay tuition and a check came in the mail from a friend for the exact amount. Then there was the day a few months after Paul and I were married when things were tight and a card came in the mail with a note and a check for $25. The note said something like, “Dear Paul and Liita, I just felt led to drop this in the mail, hope all is well….”Well, all was NOT well, we didn’t have enough money and the paycheck was a few days away. That was 1988.
Over the years, God has provided in amazing ways. A former boss advanced us enough money to buy our first home in 1994. A friend who saw Paul ticking away a his teacher’s certification one class at a time, offered to pay for Paul to go to school full time and get the job done…no strings attached. When one of my full time jobs ended because the publisher cancelled the magazine that I was art directing, I received a call from the Brookfield Zoo to produce one issue of their publication while their art director was on maternity leave….just happened to come at the time between my jobs. This list goes on. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received a call from someone to do a HUGE freelance job right at a time when the car broke down or the stove, dryer or washing machine died or the roof was leaking.
So, I’m WAITING to write the next story of God’s faithfulness. I’m trusting him to help us. I’m begging for faith in the gap.