"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 said '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 am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me 'Wait?'

I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign, or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

And Lord, I've been 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 taut, and grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes wept 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, cause the 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 that I give to the faint;

You'd not learn to see through 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 the 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 in 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 and desires 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 often My answers seem terribly late, My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT.'"

I received a copy of this poem from a friend in college and the beauty and truth of it really struck a cord in my heart. While going through my belongings as I packed for Okinawa, I rediscovered it and decided to share it.