Waiting. It’s not something I’m very good at.
I can be pretty patient waiting at the doctor’s office or in the grocery line…at least so I sometimes think, smugly comparing myself to others. I can spend a long time playing with a toddler or swaying a baby to sleep.
But waiting bothers me when I have a deadline coming up—something I have to do after the doctor’s office or grocery story—or when I’m not sure if or when the thing I’m waiting for will ever come.
In other words, I’m not very good at waiting when it involves trust.
Waiting on the Lord involves trust.
My family waited a lot this spring. Two years ago, the Lord led us to start a Christian musical theater company for young people and their families. It has been a wonderful experience, albeit a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but God has been faithful all the way.
One of the key things He has been teaching us through this little company is trust…trust in Him to whom this little theater group is dedicated. And learning trust involves learning to step out in faith when we can’t see the way, to cling to His hand when the path He is leading us on seems crazy.
It often involves waiting.
The show God led us to for our summer musical this year is Seussical Jr. Based on the stories and characters of Dr. Seuss, Seussical whimsically communicates the value of faithfulness, inner character vs. outer popularity, and the value of a person “no matter how small.” We were excited! So we did a dinner theater in January to raise royalty funds, held auditions in April, and started rehearsals the beginning of May. But we had one problem.
We lacked two actors, young men to play the key roles of Horton the Elephant and the Mayor of Whoville. Finding enough older boys has been a perennial challenge, as most teen guys are caught up in sports or other activities or—if they have a theater bent—are already involved in another group. We advertized through churches, homeschool groups, even professional casting websites. Though a number of boys expressed interest, scheduling or other conflicts always got in the way.
May passed into June, each week inching closer to our scheduled opening on July 14. We kept rehearsing by faith, sans Horton and Mr. Mayor. We had moments where we wondered what in the world God was going to do. The verse the Lord had given us to “keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking” (Matthew 7:7, Greek verb tense) segued into,
“Cease striving, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Thanks for the encouragement. I am not good at waiting, and you’re right, it’s all about trusting. Trusting God to do what He says He will do! Wow! I sure needed this powerful message!
Thanks so much, Rita! I’m glad it blessed you.
Great article! Though the cliffhanger is not kind, Kiersti! Is this meant to be a lesson in waiting?
Haha! I didn’t even think of that–it was just too long–but I guess that works! You already know the ending, though, Sarah. 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Kiersti!
What a timely message as we all often find ourselves waiting on something. Now, I can hardly “wait” to hear how God worked out your concerns with the theater. But as He’s giving me daily grace to wait patiently and expectantly I’ll apply that lesson in anticipation for part 2 of your blog. Great Job!
Sandra Barnes
Aw…thanks, Sandra! I guess learning to end chapters with “cliff-hangers” is rubbing off on my blogging. 🙂
I try to remind myself often of all the verses in the Bible that tell us to wait on the Lord. Waiting can be hard but it’s worth it!
Blessings~
So true! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
[…] Read Part 1 here. Today marked our first dress rehearsal for Seussical Jr. My heart swelled with gratitude as I listened to our Horton lead in prayer at the beginning of rehearsal and watched him and our Mr. Mayor throw themselves into their parts. It has been several weeks now since God brought them to us, but I hadn’t really seen them act until today, since my role as unofficial stage manager and costume wrangler wasn’t needed before. He brought them just when we needed them—Horton from our drama director’s church, Mr. Mayor (cousin to one of our littlest girls) all the way from Florida on a summer visit. Two seventeen-year-old young men with multiple shows under their belts, thrilled to be in our show and blessed to share in a company which seeks to keep the Lord at the center of everything. […]
[…] how it would all come together—we lacked young men to sing the male leads in two key numbers (a perennial problem for a young theater company, it seems), we hadn’t found a venue for our spring musical—which we […]