The Ministry of Waiting

I have to admit, when I started listening to today’s encore Mid-Morning, I didn’t think there would be much in it that applied to me. Chris Yuan was buried deeply within a gay lifestyle, selling drugs, in trouble with the law…all of which are things that don’t apply to my life. They don’t even apply to the lives of any people who are close to me.

Ahhh, but stories are bigger than they appear.

As Chris and his mom began to talk, God began to not just whisper to my heart…but SHOUT to it.

Here’s the thing that spoke to me most profoundly.

The ministry of waiting.

Chris talked about how his mother longed with great desperation to see his life turn around…to see him find a deep and meaningful relationship with Christ. But there was only so much she could do. What she needed to do most of all was wait. Wait and pray.

I’ve said it here before, and I’ll say it again. I do not wait well. I am a take-action sort of girl. I want God to write the story and I want Him to write it QUICKLY.

But oh, how God works behind the scenes. He really, really does. He does beautiful things that we can’t see in the moment but that doesn’t mean they’re not happening. He does powerful, pivotal things based on the prayers of his children.

My heart is challenged – and exhausted – as I take away this truth. Waiting isn’t about toe tapping impatience. Waiting really can be a ministry. A powerful ministry of prayer. A powerful ministry of going to the one with all the power and all the love.

Not a ministry for the faint of heart, to be sure. But a ministry nonetheless.