Wait

Wait
Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled 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 heard?
By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.
My future and all to which I relate hangs in the balance,
And YOU tell me to WAIT?
I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a ‘no’ to which I shall resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe we need but to ask,
And we would 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 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 as sign.
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 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 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.
You’d not know the glow of My comfort 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 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.”

I do not know who wrote this, but 10 years ago it came into my email box and I treasured it. Every time I get impatient for God to DO something in my life He reminds me of this poem. I cannot help but add...

I lifted my eyes and put my hand into His.
and remembered the words of the psalmist 150.

O praise the Lord.
O Praise God in His holy temple,
Praise Him in the vault of heaven, the vault of His power;
Praise Him for His mighty works,
Praise Him for His immeasurable greatness.
Praise Him with fanfares on the trumpet,
Praise Him upon lute and harp;
Praise Him with tambourines and dancing,
Praise Him with flute and strings;
Praise Him with the clash of cymbals;
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
O, praise the Lord.