Worship and Wait

Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. Job 2:13

His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. Genesis 37:35

One of our severest lessons comes from the stubborn refusal to see that we must not interfere in other people's lives. – Oswald Chambers

"Watching a friend's emotional crises behind a wall of silence is like watching a hurricane through a floor to ceiling window." – mlp

My friend said, “When my heart and mind return to me, then we’ll talk again.” Months gone by; months to come. There's is always a crisis, a weariness, a storm, a circumstance, and a hope - but not an arrival. I'm not holding my breath, just holding a heart.

Some storms can only be experienced alone, whoever is standing at our side. It doesn’t mean that we ARE alone, it only means that we feel that way, and there is no one who can comfort us. Nothing is more frustrating than feeling helpless.

Nowhere is there greater faith than one who believes the unseen God in the blinding storm: He has our complete hearts, our minds, our beliefs, our words, our service, and our prayers. We wait, wondering if time and eternity have finally come to be one in the same. We wait in one of two states: walking in helplessness of what we see or hopefulness of Who we know.

Job 1:20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship. Humanity mourned; then moved to Holiness. If the one man most known for suffering immediately begins to worship, then how much more can I learn to face a crisis facing the Face of Comfort?

For the family or friends standing by, we are desperate to speak silence over the suffering, but it is us who needs to listen in silence to the only One Who Is. He can only speak through me when I hear Him speak to me. Waiting in the pouring pain, we are not there to change the circumstance so suffering is stopped; often we are to be there just to be there. We are there to listen and hold. We are there to watch and pray. We are there to worship and to praise. Circumstances do not change God; but praise and worship changes our perspective of God.

I find myself praying for a change in circumstances, without praying for a change in me. I find myself asking for the words to say, instead of listening to the Word speak. I find myself looking to be the one who comforts, instead of simply looking to the One of Comfort. I find myself listing the immediate proposals instead of trusting His intimate promises. He doesn’t look to bandage us with answers, He looks to bind us in His arms.

Hope is not answered questions; Hope is Christ Himself revealed in the intimate moments of our lives. Those may be healings, those maybe restorations, those maybe relationships, those maybe anything that the Father and His Child are to endure and experience together, but those are always to His glory alone.

In the cases of Jacob and Job (both who worshipped in their waiting), El Shaddai restored their lost dreams into living realities. With sights shifting from earthly children to Eternal Father, God glorified Himself, then restored their lives beyond their deepest hopes and dreams.

In human silence there is only Holy Sovereignty. Ask your deepest desires while delighting in Him. Not holding my breath, just holding His heart.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com