Quote from Forum Archives on October 20, 2003, 11:22 pm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional

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10.20.03

While Waiting

And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your
eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward,
eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and
your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of
the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your
descendants also could be numbered." - Genesis 13:14-16.

When I was saved 33 years ago, I received the first glimmer of God's call
upon my life to preach the Gospel. However, being a baby Christian I quickly
forgot about it. In 1979 while my wife and I were sponsors for a group of
young people at camp during the summer God spoke to me again. This time it
was clear to me that He wanted me to preach His Word and I was willing.
Jeanie was not as willing and could see little evidence in my life of any
capability of preaching or of being a pastor. This was perhaps one of the
most painful moments of my life - hearing God's call but being prevented
from responding. It is difficult having a calling, a vision, a dream from
God and not be able to immediately launch out to see it fulfilled.

Abraham encountered something very similar in that God gave him a promise, a
dream, a vision, a call when he was about 75 years old but the beginning of
the fulfillment of this did not occur until much later. In fact, Abraham was
about 25 years older before his first descendant, a son, was born. Think of
all those years of knowing what God wants in your life and you want it too
but it is not happening. Why Lord? Abraham and Sarah try to bring about the
dream through their fleshly efforts. First, they try adoption, and then they
try having a substitute mother but neither of those courses of action was
God's will. God had another plan even though it did not seem feasible
according to human wisdom.

>From the perspective of 24 years, I can see why God used my wife as a timing
mechanism. From 1979 to 1990, God moved in my life to grow me and prepare me
to be able to be a pastor. Through the hours of prayer about why I was
waiting and when the waiting would be over, I came to recognize the Father's
Voice. Through the years of reading and studying God's Word, I grew in
knowledge and wisdom of His will and plan. Through the years of increasing
responsibility in the church God molded me into the shape necessary for
future service. God did much the same in the life of Abraham. During those
years of waiting God molded Abraham into the father that was needed - a
father of faith.

I can laugh and rejoice now about how God used my wife to delay and then as
an indication that the time had come for the call to become a reality.
Because when God revealed through prayer and His Word beyond any doubt His
will - Jeanie was more than ready at that point to move forward in faith
with me.

Looking back now, I can see that for Abraham and me those years of waiting
were not wasted years. No, those were valuable years of preparation for the
service that was ahead. Without those years, I would have been at a loss
when encountering many of the situations that I have faced as a pastor. With
those years, I have been able to be an instrument God could use to a much
greater extent than without the years of waiting.

Has God given you a promise, or a dream, or a vision, or a call? Are you
frustrated because you have not seen fulfillment? Are you tired of the
waiting? Are you anxious to move on to the next stage? It is in the waiting
that God prepares you for the fulfillment of what He has for you. It is
through the praying and the searching of His Word that you grow to become
what is necessary to effectively fulfill all that God wants for your life.
Don't rush this time! Work hard at the preparation that you know is needed
before you can be what God wants. Remember God is never late and He is
always, always on time.

Copyright © 2003. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
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