The morning air is cool and crisp on the porch of my Northeast Georgia home. I wonder if the effort to sit in my rocking chair is worth it. Smokey, our non-affectionate grey cat, seems to wonder the same as she eye-balls me from a nearby spot. My breath is visible and the sound of my clicking keyboard reminds me of the approaching day ahead. Time waits for no one.
Because I work as a ghost writer, often, I find it difficult to interchange from my voice and my client’s voice; therefore, I ignore my own. I keep what I want to say hidden until it forces itself out onto paper or in this case screen. The nearby birds chirp a warning of the impending sunrise, evidenced by the pink and red traces lining the sky. The day is beginning.
Sometimes, as people of God, we are torn between waiting and doing. Scriptures tell us to “wait” on the Lord. Isaiah 40:31, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength…” Others tell us to be “still” and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). On the other side, there are scriptures which question our inability to step out in faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
As the English punk rock band The Clash sang, “Should I stay or should I go,” we find ourselves in a similar perdicament. Do I wait in faith or do I go forward in faith? How do I know?
Through out the Bible we find people who “waited” on God and people who took initiative and “stepped” out in faith. Joseph waited in prison; Joshua waited before the Jordan; the disciples waited for the Holy Spirit; and the list goes on. There are also people who stepped out in faith. David toward Goliath; Esther to meet with the King; Peter on the water; the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment; and the list goes on. Which brings me to a confusing conflict, do we wait on God or do we act knowing He will show up?
The realm of the unknown can force us again and again to retreat to the comforts we know. Nestled beneath the familiar, we find ourselves unwilling to venture out, unwilling to shed that old comfy quilt, and step into the cold. Other times, the pain of impossibility, ‘nothing left to do,’ no visible solutions leave us frustrated and anxious. We question if God is even around and if He is, He certainly isn’t listening to us.
The beauty of the scriptures come flowing from my heart as if God Himself whispered through His sunrise a resounding answer. Romans 8:31, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
There are times when we need to be still and wait for God. Most of those times are signified by confusion and lack of resolve. We find that there is nothing left for us to do. Other times, a slight door opens and we step through, one stepping stone at a time. The amazing wonder of God is, He is there no matter what we choose to do. And He will show up, because God honors faith. Faith when we wait and faith when we step. The key? A relationship with Him, one that involves knowing His word, talking with Him daily, and feeling His presence.
Whatever you struggle with today, know He climbs your mountain with you or He nestles beside you in the dark. God is not absent, whatever you choose to do.
