FROLF at Windy Gap 2006, Baby!

He’s Waiting…

My friend Allan and I were sitting there on Saturday night on the hardwood floors of the cabins at Windy Gap in a circle of thirteen freshmen guys, just waiting. We were waiting on them… waiting on them to stop cutting up, goofing off, screaming at each other and laughing their heads off for two seconds together. We were waiting on them to calm down long enough to hear the greatest news ever… we were longing to explain the message of the Gospel to them, but when you have thirteen guys that are all between fourteen and fifteen years old sitting in the same room, calm is not to be had.

This week we celebrated Anna’s third birthday. We asked family and friends to join us at the park for cupcakes and I urged everyone not to bring presents, but no one listened… the gifts were all so awesome, but Anna didn’t know. She was so busy tearing into one package after the other that she couldn’t stop long enough to know what each thing was before directing every ounce of her outrageous energy at the next colorfully wrapped box. As a result, Christy and I have no idea who gave what gift… it was all a tornado-like blur of scotch tape, ribbons and giggles.

I read in Isaiah 30 that God is waiting on us… waiting on us to wait on Him. This is what it says in verse 18… “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” Can you believe that? He longs to be gracious to us!? Sometimes I look at all of the messes, stresses and struggles in my life and ask, “What’s stopping you, Lord!? By all means, be gracious! Show me compassion! What’s the hold-up?”

You know what I think? I think my stressing and striving is the hold-up. I think He’s waiting, like I was in that cabin full of rowdy guys… waiting to bring the Good News. I think I worry and freak out at such high speeds that I can’t even recognize the gifts He’s giving me all of the time. If we could just trust Him enough… If we could just slow down enough… If we could learn to wait on Him, I think we’ll find that He’s been waiting on us, waiting to rise up in compassion; longing to pour grace on us, waiting on us to wait on Him.