WaitJan05

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait!"

"'Wait?, You say, wait!" my indignant reply,

Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and am claiming your Word."

"My future and all to which I relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?

I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign,

Or even a 'no' to which I can resign."

"And Lord, you promised that if we believe

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut

and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting. . .for what?"

He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,

And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run."

"All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want--but, you wouldn't know me.

You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint,

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint."

"You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in me

when darkness and silence were all you could see."

"You'd never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;

You'd know that I give and I save ... (for a start),

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart."

"The glow of my comfort late into the night.

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked

Of an infinite God, who makes what you have last."

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

what it means that My grace is sufficient for thee..

Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,

But, oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!"

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see

that the greatest of gifts is to get to know me.

And though oft may my answers seem terribly late,

My wisest of answers is still but to wait."

Every Once In a While a rare poetic treasure emerges and speaks to us in a profound and meaningful way...the kind of piece you keep close by to share its gentle wisdom. For more than 20 years, Russell Kelfer's inspirational poem, Wait, has ministered to countless individuals, yet the author's identity was always unknown ... until now.

Russell Kelfer speaks to our human desire to hear God's plan for our life and our subsequent frustration when we feel we are met with his silence. What we often hear as God's "no," however, is God's "wait." "Wait...for My timimg. Wait for Me to work in you. Wait while you learn to trust me."