Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:

Quietly patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate

And the Master so gently said,

“Child, you must 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 heart?

By faith, I have asked, and I’m claiming Your Word.”

My future and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me WAIT?

I need a “Yes” or a go-ahead sign,

Or even a “No” to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promises 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 once again, “You must wait.”

So I slumped in my chair defeated and taught

And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting …for what?”

He seemed, then, to kneel,

And His eyes wept with mine,

And 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.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would 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 I give to the faint

You’d not learn to see though the 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 were all you could see.

You’d never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You’d 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 asked

Of 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 dreams for your loved one

Overnight would come true,

But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I’m doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still, “wait.”

Author Unknown