I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)
At the end of each weekend of barn construction, I tried to spend some time cleaning up the area where we worked. However, there were many things I could not do, as they required more muscle or skill than I possessed. Several tree limbs, cut away from the barn, lay scattered about the property at just the right height to poke a horse in the eye. Hole from electric or irrigation lines could result in a broken leg or foot. A leftover sheet of metal roofing might slice right through muscle to the bone. At first, I would ask Glen to help me in the clean up. Exhausted and ready to quit for the weekend, he did not participate nor think my efforts were important. He promised to do the work, but just not then. I agitated over it, wanting to see something happen now! He resisted my efforts to pull him into the process, and no matter what I said or did; he walked away, saying he would get to it later. Finally, I gave up on my nagging. As the last nail went into the barn, and excitement grew over its completion, I knew that there was still more to do. Clean up still needed to be done. I chose not to ask Glen to quit his celebrating and go back to work. As much effort as he had put into the barn, I decided not ask him to do anything else, but just let clean up wait until another day. Worse come to worse, the horses could stay in their stalls or the round pen until the pasture and area around the barn was safe. Much to my surprise, after a brief celebration, Glen got onto the tractor once again, and began working to clean up. He labored another hour or more leveling ground, moving tree limbs, wood and metal, until when we finally went in the house, the barn was a safe and secure place for the horse to live. All without me having to ask or nag. I was so glad I had waited for him to do it in his own time frame. Sometimes, we need a reminder to wait on God as well. We pray and ask for Him to intervene, to give us an answer or to grant us a blessing. Yet, He does not seem to move. He has promised that He listens, that He loves us and wants the best for us and that He will give us the desires of our heart. Yet, our pleas seem to go unnoticed. We hear nothing, but our own voice begging Him for help. In these times, we need to learn to trust and to be patient. Waiting is not easy, but that is what God often calls us to do and His answers do not come to give us time to learn this lesson. God may not be ready to intervene. Wait on His timing. Like Him, it is always perfect.
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