Everyone says, “Wait on the Lord; He will make a way when there seems to be no way.” Or “At the end of the tunnel, there’s light,” but all you can think of is what to do while waiting. How do you handle the present? Despite this, waiting is not delayed; it is preparation. Preparation for what God is about to unlock and break from within you. They say the climb is difficult, but the view is breathtaking. But making that first step is the scariest and hardest part, but if we don’t, we will be forever stuck, and I can attest to that wholeheartedly. Fear cripples and keeps us in a place of despair and defeat, as if you’re only in survival mode, but God requires us to take a massive and mighty leap of faith, active faith that will cause shackles of fear and doubt to be dispelled from us. Waiting can be hard, but rather worth it. Furthermore, it all boils down to what we do while we wait, which keeps us expectant, prayerful, and joyful amidst any crisis that befalls us. In the book of Psalms 123:2, it states, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Growing up in Sunday School, our eyes were at our knees. We’d hear all these stories, and we’d even act them out in plays, which were so exciting. Those stories were filled with tragedies, mysteries, and unexplainable miracles all the same, from Adam and Eve in the garden to Cain who killed his brother, Peter walking on water, and Saul who became Paul. There is just this stream of stories that speak of God’s goodness and sovereignty, but when you hear a particular story that connects with your current situation, the reality of it hits differently, and it was as if the Holy Spirit placed it in the Bible just for you.
The woman with the issue of blood is told in three of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It impacted my faith deeply and rocked my world to its core truth be told all my ears caught in my earlier years were just this woman who suffered for twelve years, been through the wringer with many physicians and much expense, still her condition grew worse so much so that she was ostracized from her family and the public eyes. By faith, she knew Jesus could heal her. Even if she just touched just the hem of Jesus’ garment, she knew she would be healed and she indeed was granted miraculous healing Jesus immediately knew in himself that virtue had gone out of Him, but it was her intense desperation and determined faith that made her whole, and so I thought to myself, what is wrong with me and I even joked one time with a friend of mine saying, Lord, but I’ve been touching you and nothing, and we burst out laughing, but inside I was filled with dread and restlessness.
It reads that, moreover, her story taught her that desperation keeps away self-pity and complacency, which was an eye-opener for me. In turn, the challenges that I’d seen helped to outstretch my faith in the process. The Holy Spirit has been challenging me every day to walk out in faith and become desperate. He told me I needed to be the change I wanted to see, be that example, and walk even when it hurts, walk. It is a daily struggle, but we’re not alone. God is with us every step of the way, and it’s when we become desperate and broken that our appetite and thirst deepen our need for Him.