Waiting on God by Dawn Kopa
Every time I “awaken the dawn” (as the psalmist said), I like to start while it’s still dark out. This is usually about one hour before the sun actually rises over the horizon.
I can observe, enjoy, and commune with the Lord during that time as the minutes fly by without a single thought or concern about time or tasks entering my mind.
But without fail, the final few minutes just before the tip of that bright ball of fire peaks above the horizon, I start to get a restless. I look at my phone, check the time, find myself wondering where the sun is and if it should be here by now, and even open the weather app to see the exact number of minutes until it arrives. Then I have to make myself be patient, and this requires effort.
I wonder if it is the same when we are waiting on God for something. For him to answer our prayer and finally give us the thing we’ve been longing for—the breakthrough in an area, or the baby that finally comes full term, or the return of a prodigal child, or the better job/business/ministry opportunity, or the spouse, or the healing that just seems to have taken so long.
I wonder if when we start to feel restless, that means the answer we have been waiting for is just below the horizon. The light is so near that it isn’t dark anymore.
The moon and the stars have been tucked away for the day. The birds have awakened and are singing and already catching their breakfast. In other words, it feels so close, we can just almost taste it.
If so, I settle myself with this: If it’s been an hour already, what is it to wait another three minutes? Likewise, if it’s been five years for you already, what is it to wait another few months? (This doesn’t mean to be passive about what you’re waiting for. Waiting on the Lord is anything but passive. But it does mean: Don’t pack up and go home yet. Don’t give up.
I think the thing that makes waiting the hardest is not knowing exactly when something will happen and wondering Did I miss it?
Unfortunately, when we’re waiting on God, we can’t open an app and see the exact minute the anticipated answer will arrive. So we just have to rest in the fact that as sure as the sun rises every day, he is faithful. He sees. He hears. He knows. He answers. This is the truth.
There are many times when the sun has risen but it isn’t visible to us until it’s several degrees over the horizon; it is veiled by the morning clouds. I wonder if it’s possible that what we have been waiting for is already here, but is merely veiled.
If so, may our prayers be fervent, effective, and filled with faith to soon remove that veil.
Dawn has helped serve and lead in churches and non-profit organizations for over 10 years. She recently founded a book publishing company to help Christian authors self-publish their own books. After inheriting her half-brother when he was 11 years old, she raised him on her own, and he is now a sophomore in college. She resides in Houston, TX, and loves opening the blinds first thing in the mornings and the windows on pretty days.