by Elizabeth Jackson
Believe me * I’m not afraid to * Teach me * To learn Your ways * Carry me * Under Your wings* In Your perfect time * Only You * Can dreams come true * Only You * Can make me shine * Only You * Can days be right * In Your perfect time *
I heard Maire Brennan’s song Perfect Time today for the first time. Not only did the hauntingly beautiful Celtic music resound in my ears, I found the echo of the words in my heart… an echo from many weeks and months and years ago, faint yet still sounding. Waiting. For that perfect time.
I wonder how many of us can say we are waiting on the Lord… how many of us can quote Scriptures about waiting for Him. And how many of us believe that once we reach a certain place in our lives (whatever it may be that we are striving after), the waiting will be over. I think I used to believe that. That once this certain thing happened in my life (perhaps marriage?), I would no longer be waiting.
I know You told me that I’m not alone * You know that I couldn’t do it on my own * See my eyes are older now * Broken dreams behind * Fill my heart with precious love * I know it’s there to find *
I think something this past year has taught me is that the waiting never ends: because God is never finished with us. He wants us to wait on Him. But I have also learned that now is that Perfect Time. We chase after elusive day dreams, not realizing we hold the dream in our hands: the dream of purpose, peace, knowing.
And I wonder how many of us scan the skies, for a word or sign that we are where we are supposed to be, that we are fulfilling our purpose. We want it in stone. But God has already carved in stone and placed on parchment the things He desires to be known. When we weigh our dreams against these things, we find our peace in freedom. And learn to delight in the mysteries He hides from our eyes.
Free my fears and promise me * That You won’t let me go * You’re the One to comfort me * The past my God You know * Only You * In Your Perfect Time *
Wow! Thank you for sharing this!
I’ve often wondered why you don’t post more articles on here? The few that I’ve read from you, I have really enjoyed.
gofish, I write my articles in advance, and Natalie or Lanier publish them when it seems best.
Glad you enjoyed this one today…
“We want it in stone. But God has already carved in stone and placed on parchment the things He desires to be known.”
“He wants us to wait on Him.”
WOW! That’s what I needed to hear today. Thanks!
~Tabitha
Thanks so much for this post.
But I have also learned that now is that Perfect Time. We chase after elusive day dreams, not realizing we hold the dream in our hands: the dream of purpose, peace, knowing.
Elizabeth, this is exactly what I am learning right now. It’s a hard lesson, but it is also sweet. I needed this reminder, so thank you so much!
So true, that we often believe (sometimes subconsciously) that once we reach a certain place in our lives, the waiting will be over. But even more true, that that’s NOT the case! I never realized before how my thinking has been flawed in this area, without me even knowing.
Thank-you for this post — it really applies to my life right now!
~Lois
Wow,that post has really helped me. I often find my self looking elswhere for a sign and not in scripture. And now i think surely i would find a sign there, where Gods word and guidnace is.
Rachael – England
Such a good reminder. Sometimes I think, “If only this was here now…” and then I realize, “Then what?” If I’m thinking ahead about things, I’ll never stop and be content right now-and that is true for future things, too! Waiting is such a good thing, though difficult at times! I enjoyed reading this, Elizabeth:-)
That was such a beautiful post, Elizabeth.:) I also struggle with being ‘present’ in the here and now (instead of dreaming about the future or wishing I was somewhere else). This is a very hard thing to learn (esp. for a dreamy, romantic like me!)- I can really sympathize with you girls who also struggle with this. Sometimes we don’t know why God allows something to happen or takes something away. We may not have the answers, but at least we have the gift of faith. We can trust in His goodness and that He is working EVERYthing (even the bad) for our ultimate good.
-Whitney
Thanks for the beautiful post, Elizabeth. it reminds of this poem that I read a while back:
Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I plead 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 I not heard?
By faith I have asked, and am claiming Your Word.
My future and all to which I can 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 the 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 I give to the faint;
You’d not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust by just 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 gave, 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 what you have asked
of and infinite God, who have makes 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 one
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 getting to know Me.
And though oft’ My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still ‘Wait’”.
~Author Unknown
~Allison
Wonderful post, Elizabeth…thank you for sharing your thoughts! This waiting is something I’m slowly learning now too…and oh, how frustratingly slow I am in learning this lesson. I’m so thankful for a patient Teacher…
Oh, I’m so glad I decided to check the comments to this post post once more before deleting it from my blog reader! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Allison, for typing up that poem!
Thank you Elizabeth for the kind and timely reminder that “now is the Perfect Time.” And Allison – lovely poem, I am going to post it on my wall. =) Thank you both for the encouraging thoughts!
-Kari
Allison…about the wonderful poem you posted…isn’t it from the book Emotional Purity by Heather Paulsen? I thought it was because I had read and loved it before…but I could be thinking of another poem too!