Waiting, Part 2

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.

And really, in some ways it was better we didn’t have these guys sooner—it gave us a chance for our younger and less experienced kids to get the ensemble numbers down before plugging in these leads. Our Father knows what He is doing.

And when doesn’t He? Why is it so hard for me to trust Him when I can’t see the next step or guess how He is going to work things out? His plans are not always what I would have chosen at the time. But He is always faithful. Always wise. Always good. Always loving.

“Those who hopefully wait for me will never be ashamed.” (Isaiah 49:23)

Perhaps that is the key—to wait for Him, not for my desired outcome. Throughout this spring of waiting on “our boys,” I tried—though failing often—to avoid my natural inclination to put my hope on whichever possible actor looked promising at the time. Instead I tried to place my hope in Him, trusting that He would work out His plan for this show in His time. I tried to trust that even if He planned for the whole show to flop, somehow He would work even that out for good. And His answer was better than we could have imagined or asked for.

I imagine “waiting” brings up different thoughts for different people. Maybe for some it is waiting for a job, or a child, or news from a doctor. For a single young woman like me, it often associates with waiting for a husband. When I struggle, I think it is mostly with not knowing whether what I am waiting for will ever come. It seems it would be so much easier to wait if the Lord just said, “Two more years.” But then, I would not need to trust Him as much.

Lord, help us to wait upon You, rather than putting our hope in anyone or anything else. For those who wait for You will never be ashamed…never be disappointed. In You alone will we truly find the desires of our hearts.

What or whom are you waiting for today?