Waiting while Walking.

"I never thought it was worth it, you know waiting for your love, and then I felt your kiss, I could wait forever for this." I am not sure who said this but I found it to be true for me. It is exactly how I felt when I met the woman who became my wife. When I saw her the first time, when I touched her hand for the first time and when I kissed her for the first time, I knew that she was what I had waited for my whole life. Then I asked God, "Is this really you?"

This is how I have often experienced God. I see or I touch or I feel and I know. Like relationships, I often can sense with God that "this isn’t quite it" that God has something else. There is no need for me to force a solution with God or attempt to "rush" things. Like relationships, there is no reason to marry just because I am a certain age or have dated someone a certain amount of time. When the time is right I usually know. It is the same with God. When I am ready and God is ready, miracles happen. Being "ready" does not mean that all the circumstances are perfect, it just means that for whatever reason I am able to move forward. It doesn’t mean that I don’t stretch myself, take chances on love, or step out in faith-- it does mean that I don’t rely on my persuasive wisdom and not the power of the Spirit. It ultimately means that I want what God wants more than what Rick wants, this isn’t always easy to discern and it requires my paying careful attention to what is going on in my heart. Like relationships, most often I have known on the first date whether or not it was real. At the same time, I have stayed in relationships for longer periods of times yet knowing in my soul that "this wasn’t it." The same happens in other areas of my life. It is deeper than emotions and feelings; it is a knowing and peace in the soul.

There is a difference between procrastination, indecision and waiting. For me, procrastination is "putting something off" and is usually fear-based. Indecision is an inability to decide and an indication to wait. Waiting is faith-based and requires action. There is an old saying, "A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." If I am an artist, I don’t sit waiting for the inspiration to paint; I paint. Waiting for the love of my life didn’t mean that I did not date, it meant that I did not settle for less than what God had planted in my soul. It is the same with every other area of my life. I walk, and as I walk I wait on God.