"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
He rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice,
Blessed are all who wait for Him."
My first reaction to this is why? Why would God long to be gracious to me? I mess up all. the. time. If I were my kid, I am not sure what I would long to be is gracious. . .
I am so thankful that I am not God. I bet you are, too!
I am so thankful for my gracious, compassionate God. There are truly not words to describe the depth of my gratitude. On this occasion, I am so glad that God can knows my deepest thoughts and all the treasures buried in my heart.
The part of this verse that stops me in my tracks is "Blesses are all who wait for Him."
I stink at waiting. I like movement. I like plans. I like answers. I like clarity.
And I DO NOT like waiting for movement, clarity, answers, and/or plans!
Though it is my knee-jerk reaction to do something, rather than sit tight, I also struggle with moving forward unless I have the WHOLE plan figured out. If God wants me to move in a certain direction, I want Him to show me the whole plan before I take a step.
Can you even imagine what God thinks when I start giving Him orders? "OK God, I need the plan. I need you to lay it out in full detail. I need you to show me part, and then - IF it seems like a path I could handle, I will proceed."
He has to just want to smack me over the head sometimes, except that He is better than me! According to this verse, what He wants to be is gracious to me. He wants to be compassionate. He wants to bestow justice. He wants to bless me. . . when I wait on Him.
Now, that is something worth working on.
Gracious, compassionate God. My thoughts are so different from Your thoughts. It feels as though my every instinct is to do things my way, in my time, as I see fit. I rush ahead. Then I complain because the road is bumpy and lonely. I hang back. Then I complain because I can not see You. Thank you that you always, always treat me with grace and compassion. Always, even when you discipline, it is with grace and compassion. You ARE just. You. are. just. I am so thankful for your true justice. Your absolute righteousness. Your perfect plan. Help me to wait on you. Help me to be in precise step with you. I do not want to lag behind OR run ahead. I want to be exactly in step with You.
