...Nothing to Fear... pt.2

      Even though I thoroughly enjoyed school, ah… the anticipation of “the end.” The end of school and all it entailed, equaled, in my mind, the beginning of work. But God is merciful. My textbooks had required several more months to complete than I had hoped for. Then there was the externship and testing and paperwork (which someone suggested was moving as fast as “molasses in the wintertime”)… and finally the end for which I had been waiting was upon me.

      But God is merciful. In His infinite wisdom, God ordained more delay. There is a difference between impatience at delay and submission to delay. God wants us to learn to Wait. On. Him. A puppy may be restrained by it’s master’s hands, but unwilling to wait for a command from his lips. It's great to see a dog wait. How much better a person?

      One by one, the opportunities and options on my list withered. My small, but very faithful clientele evaporated as soon as I started to charge for my work. Chair massage in a local business produced virtually nothing. The list of what didn’t come to fruition could continue, but the point is simply that I was not seeing God direct me to what I honestly believed I was supposed to do.

      January, February, March, April… There was one door left to my finite way of thinking. One for which I had higher hopes, and even expectation than any other. My externship had been in a local nursing home, and both the employees and I hoped that I could continue working there. I had been waiting for a response with the requirements of their mother institution for working in that facility, and then… finally...

      “Hope deferred (or delayed) makes the heart sick...” so says the wise man. Then why is waiting such a positive thing? Good question, but keep reading. “…when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” Solomon also wrote, “The fruit of righteousness is a tree of life…” Proverbs 13:12, 11:30. Delay may be unnatural to us. It may even feel wrong. It may be a chastening experience, but it is “for our profit.” For the joyous purpose that “we might be partakers of His holiness.” “Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” Hebrews 12:10,11. Perhaps that is why waiting is not a one time experience for the christian. A tree takes years to grow and develop. Hmmm… not a moment, or a day… but a lifetime.