While I’m Waiting

Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. Habakkuk 1:5

The Lord gave me this verse about 6 months ago, knee deep in a long waiting process for our adoption from the DRC. Most of the paperwork had been completed, most of the hoops jumped through, all that was left being preparation at home and the days of waiting for a corrupt government to start releasing hundreds of children, one of them being my 7 year old son.

You see, over the course of several years, God took us down a path of awareness of the orphan crisis, which led to support through our church, which led to hands and feet mission work in Haiti and Africa, which fueled a passion for loving orphans, which led to a call to adopt. Over those years, He carefully planted and watered seeds in our hearts, and looking back His path for us was laid out step by step and was so clear. We took our first steps of obedience in adoption almost 2 years ago and have seen God work in tangible ways over and over again, which has shown us His faithfulness in a way we have never experienced.

But here we are, right at the finish line of officially bringing our son into our family and there’s a huge stop sign. I mean huge. It’s bigger than the insurmountable paperwork or the financial cost or the fears of adoption that held us back in the beginning.

It’s a place where (again) only God can do a work, a mighty work, to bring home our son from a place of injustice and unrest. To bring him to a spacious place.

So once again I find myself, just waiting.

And in the midst of all of this, He lures me out of bed early on these summer mornings while my house is filled with my sleeping little people and He shows me in His word that He is faithful. That no purpose of His can be thwarted. That He is steadfast, firm and steady. That He doesn’t even cast a shadow because He never moves. That He gives good gifts and He keeps his promises.

And because of who He is, I keep believing and trusting, and my faith increases. And I wait, although not as one who waits without hope. I wait WITH the hope that what I will see God do in my days I wouldn’t even believe if told! Now that’s something worth waiting for!

What places do you find yourself waiting in? Is it a job or a child or a husband? Is it an increased faith or a group of friends or a direction for your life? You see often we find ourselves in places that only God can fix, that only He can pull together and places where only He can force change.

In our human minds and places it’s a frustrating, helpless feeling. But then God reminds us to look around with wonder at the nations. The nations that HE created! The world is so much bigger than our “waiting places” or current problems.

Sister, there is growth in the waiting! Maybe God knew that I would need this time of waiting to draw me near to Him in preparation for our son to be home. Maybe God wants to remind me of his faithfulness and his majesty and that his plans are sovereign. Regardless, I’m all in because I don’t want to miss out on what God is teaching me. Because when the mighty work happens, I want to be able to share His story in a way that brings Him the most glory.