Worth the Wait

     As I was telling my friend Jean earlier: "The harder it is to get there, the more I need to be there." She had asked if I was going to church tonight. I try to get to church every time the doors are open. But some days are more of a challenge. I actually got to bed by a little after 10pm last night and slept all night. But I doubt I rested, because I got up for an hour at 8am but laid back down at 9 and didn't wake up until 12:45pm. The body needs more than sleep; it needs rest. And I am not getting any. Yet. The journey is worth the wait.

     But I will soon. My body is exhausted. Every step groans of itself. I sit down to read and the pages blur, my eyes close and I take these little catnaps. And then I am revived for awhile. I stretch my legs out on the recliner, extend my arms, wiggle my fingers: massage my body from the hips down and stand up. Talking to God the whole time.


     You may think I am talking to myself cause you see my lips moving. I ask you, "Why talk to myself, when I can talk to the One who made me?" And He listens. Why does God listen to me when I talk to Him? Great is His faithfulness. For He has said He will never leave me nor forsake me. He turns His ear towards me to hear me. I yawn. And yet our time together is not yet done.


     God guides me to my bed, my resting place. Sometimes I fall asleep while praying and sometimes I fall asleep while singing. These last three nights I have woke up singing Mercy Me's Bring the Rain. This is not a restful song. And though I know this song by heart, it is not one I would have chosen to wake up to. For it gives the message of preparedness to be at the forefront of the battle. And you and I both know that we are seldom at our best first thing in the morning. Nonetheless, there it is. Even before the sun rises, the song flows into my spirit. 


     Where I am currently in life was a destination of times past. But this leg of the journey is not the end of the road. I haven't crossed the finish line yet; I'm still running, figuratively speaking of course. If my thoughts linger on the weight of the race, I become more tired. And though a nap would be good right now, I would not get up in time for church. And the dreams.


     If the dreams were good, maybe then I'd get some rest. But I must needs carry my Sword into spiritual battle even in my sleep. Which is why I probably wake up exhausted instead of rested. I am attacked on every level. And I need help repelling the enemy wherever he tries to invade. Even my rest. In Nehemiah, every family worked together to repair the walls and the gates around Jerusalem. And when they were come against by those who did not want to see a united Israel, they rotated who would do the work of the Lord and who would defend those who worked. 


     Where is that? Who fights while some work, some rest. For they rotated in shifts. By working together in this fashion, they were able to complete the building of the walls and gates in 52 days. Because God was on their side. And when their enemies saw that God was on Israel's side, they ceased their attacks. Their journey was worth the wait. 


    And so is ours.