If you asked me how many things I have listed on my waiting list, I’d probably blush and try to change the subject. There is nothing embarrassing about waiting, but I’d be uncomfortable to admit what exactly is on my waiting list.
What I mean when I refer to something being on my “waiting list” is that I have a list of personal requests for God, important enough that I deem them as prayer requests. God has answered some of them, such as opening up finances for us, in which He answered by providing a perfect job that was suited to my pregnancy needs and graciously giving both my husband and I raises at work within two weeks of each other.
God is faithful and continues to provide for mine and my family’s needs. But I can’t help but stare at my unanswered list longingly, wondering when or if they will be fulfilled. For example, the top three are:
- Get our own home suited to our needs
- Find a job that I could do from home or with my son/have an extra flow of income
- Lose some weight so I feel healthy, strong, and confident
I realize at some point prayer number one will be answered, for I do not believe it is in God’s plan to have our family live in a basement with only one bedroom and one bathroom. Prayer number two and three are more wants verses needs, but even so I cling to them knowing that my God is the God of my desires as well as needs. He wants me to come to Him with my hopes and dreams.
God has recently given me a revelation that I have been going about my prayer list all wrong. I gaze at my desires, hoping and waiting…than praying and waiting…and waiting and dreaming. As I was praying to God, He gave me this revelation (also through a sermon I recently watched): What if instead of just waiting, I can celebrate in my waiting?
As I wait, I can celebrate for the things the Lord has already blessed me with.
As I wait, I can celebrate that I have a God, a Father, who has unmeasurable love towards me and who craves to have a personal relationship with me.
I can celebrate that Jesus died for me so that I am able to lay my requests down at His feet.
As I wait, I can celebrate and worship my Lord, and be filled with joy, understanding that my joy doesn’t come from the gifts God blesses me with, but from the Giver Himself.
God hears my prayers, and He hears yours as well. Maybe this season isn’t the time for my family and I to get a house because our finances are a little too tight to afford one, and maybe this isn’t the time to have a side job on top of the ones we already have because God wants us to not only enjoy the time with friends and family, but an opportunity to trust in Him as well.
I may not know or understand the reason for my waiting, but I can celebrate knowing that God’s timing is perfect and that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28, NIV).
We can wait and hope as we gaze at our “waiting list”, but let’s start celebrating as well! Let’s throw a party and worship God because He is deserving of our praise. The One who created the universe with just His breath, who sent His one and only beloved Son to die on a cross for all our inequities, and who surrounds us with His overwhelming, reckless, chasing love doesn’t need a reason for us to raise our arms to Him in thankfulness and joyful contentment. Let’s celebrate just because He’s God!
I have a long list to be thankful for. What does yours look like?
