The Plumbline

Have you been waiting for what seems like forever to see the fulfillment of a dream, answer to a prayer, or intervention of some kind in your life? I imagine all of us are in this position from time to time, finding it harder and harder to wait, even wanting to give up on whatever it is we hope for entirely. If you find yourself there today, you aren't alone 'waiting for your rescue'. The one thing we must do is put our hope in God's promises. What he says is true - trustworthy, firmly grounded, and never failing. In the 'wait', it may not seem that way, but God will never compromise his watchfulness or his careful attention toward us! I am worn out waiting for your rescue, but I have put my hope in your word. My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me? I am shriveled like a wineskin in the smoke, but I have not forgotten to obey your decrees. (Psalm 119:81-83) Waiting makes us feel like withered up wineskins, doesn't ...

How much longer, Lord, will you forget about me? Will it be forever? How long will you hide? How long must I be confused and miserable all day? How long will my enemies keep beating me down? (Psalm 13:1-2) If you have ever asked, "Are we there yet?", you know the question is not one of patience, but of impatience. We want all the good stuff, but we don't like the time between the vision and its fulfillment. The vision is easy for us to comprehend, but all the stuff that happens between the vision and the fulness of its completion is much harder for us to understand. We want to 'be there', but God has some work to do in us, around us, or through us before we 'get there'. In those 'in between' times while we await the fulfillment of the vision, it is not uncommon for us to begin to question if we got the vision right. In other words, we begin to question God's purpose in the wait. We think he has withdrawn from us, is hiding himself from us, o...

Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. (I Samuel 1:2, 6) Hannah was one of two wives taken by Elkanah. She was barren, while Peninnah was not. Yet, her husband loved her deeply - in spite of the fact she could not bear him any children. Hannah lived in anguish because she was barren - for it was the supreme act of a woman to bear her husband children in those days. To be barren meant she was not fulfilling her entire 'duty' as a wife - although she may have been loved very deeply by Elkanah, she felt 'less than' when she considered how the other woman could bring forth Elkanah's progeny. I wonder how many times we consider ourselves 'less than' just because we look at others as the 'standard' by which we measure ourselves and not God's view of us as 'immensely loved and cherished'? It is e...

Long enough, God—you’ve ignored me long enough. I’ve looked at the back of your head long enough. Long enough I’ve carried this ton of trouble, lived with a stomach full of pain. Long enough my arrogant enemies have looked down their noses at me. Take a good look at me, God, my God; I want to look life in the eye, so no enemy can get the best of me or laugh when I fall on my face. I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—I’m celebrating your rescue. I’m singing at the top of my lungs, I’m so full of answered prayers. (Psalm 13) Most of us have some capacity for endurance, whether it be with the distance we walk, the amount of waiting we can tolerate, or the pain we are willing to experience before we resort to a means of relief. "Long enough" is not a measure which is the same for each of us, but rather is a unique measure based on where we are emotionally, physically, spiritually, and even "relationally". Sometimes our "long enough" is shortened becau...

God, the one and only— I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I’m set for life. (Psalm 62:1-2) I saw a quote by "Missional Women" that read: "It is better to wait on God than to have regrets." It hit me that we all deal with regrets and if this 'waiting on God' part of our lives were just a bit better, we might not have quite so many. As King David proposed, if we wait as long as God says, the outcome may just be a little more certain. Why? The ground we stand upon is solid - the place where we take refuge while we wait gives us the needed time to breathe in and breathe out. We are to go to God, waiting upon him as long as HE says, not trudging ahead because WE say it is time to move. I speak for myself here - waiting is tough business. My mind gets me in muddle and the muddle just gets worse as I imagine all "I" could be doing if...

It seems a little 'counter' to patience to be passionate, doesn't it? When we think of patience, we probably think about the one who simply stands by waiting to see what will unfold, not losing hope, but being very, very calm, cool, and collected. I imagine being passionate as being a little more animated and less 'calm' - there is action involved in passion, so it doesn't always make me think of patience. Most of the time, we don't really equate waiting and passion as belonging together, but let me be a little bit revealing here - passion and patience make all the waiting worthwhile! I love to fish and let me just tell you that you cannot be any good at this without passion and patience! You must sit still for long times, often rethinking what you are using to attract those fish to your hook, and then know just the right time to snag that catch when they are nibbling on your bait. It is a skill learned in the waiting! Much of what we learn in life is learne...

God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up.  They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!  I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks.  It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God.  It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times.  When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence.  Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions.  Wait for hope to appear.  Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The "worst" is never the worst.  Why? Because the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return.  If he works severely, he also works tenderly.  His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.  He takes no pleasure in making life hard, in throwing roadblocks in the way.  (Lamentations 3:22-33 MSG) ...

Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.   ( Romans 12:12   NLT )  Have you ever spent any amount of time fishing? You buy just the right rod and reel, secure the amount of tackle you believe you will need to land that huge haul of wiggly swimmers, and head off to the huge lake or pond to drop that line in the water. Then you wait. Then you wait even longer. Still you wait even more. After about two hours of this, I have had it! I am not very good at this "angling" thing! Yet, I find the day totally relaxing and awesomely invigorating, even though I have given up on the original intent of the day - fishing. Why? Maybe because it is spent with people I love, watching them do something they love. Or perhaps it is that I enjoy being in nature and observing the handiwork of God - remembering he created all this magnificence for none other than each one of us. Better yet - perhaps it is because of both of these reasons!  Sometimes ...

Joyce Meyers speaks of patience as the "behavior" we exhibit while waiting: "Patience is not simply the ability to wait, it's how we behave while we are waiting." Many of us feel waiting involves us just doing nothing - being kind of "stagnant" for a period of time until whatever it is we are waiting for happens. It is really quite different, though, for waiting involves movement, just not ahead of schedule or in a direction of our own making. According to Webster, patience means we bear pains and trials calmly and without complaint, but it also means we don't act hastily or rashly. If you think about that one for a moment, you will begin to realize "bearing" suggests action - we don't act when we sometimes think we might have a "solution" to the problem at hand, but trust in the one who will bring the right solution in the right time. It means we remain steadfast - not easily swayed or affected by the circumstances. For our...

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,   for my hope is in him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation,  my fortress where I will not be shaken.  My victory and honor come from God alone.  He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. (Psalm 62:5-7 NLT) Have you ever had to wait for something or someone, but wherever you were waiting you had to be very, very quiet? I have agreed to meet someone in a particular location, such as a section of the library for a study group, and in that time of waiting, I have had to be very, very quiet. Is it a comfortable thing to allow silence to be the pervasive thing? Not really. Most of us are not created well for silence - we kind of thrive on movement and input of some type - then we give movement and output of some sort in turn. When God asks us to just be silent and wait, how comfortable are we with doing just as he asks? Most of us interpret "no movement" on our part, and perhaps "no response" on our part, as...

“ Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened ." ( Matthew 7:7-8   NLT ) God doesn't string us along in our lives - although we might have formed that perception when we don't get immediate or instantaneous answers to our prayers. Somehow we interpret God's "not right now" as "we will just have to wait and see". Parents are good at using that last one, simply because they want to encourage some type of behavior from their child, or they really need to see if they will have the funds later to be able to do whatever the child is wanting. God doesn't manipulate us into "right behavior", and he certainly has all the resources he needs right at his fingertips, so he probably doesn't use the "we will just have to wait an...

Okay, going to meddle a little bit today - just warning you! How many of us are "quiet waiters"?  There are a few of us who will answer that one positively, but many of us will admit to being anything less than quiet.  In fact, we have been known to complain because the wait is too long; or give up to do something totally different just because we weren't about to wait for however long was "too long".  Admit it - - - you might just be one of those "not so quiet waiters" in life!  Now, what does that have to do with how we deal with life?  It is what we do with those "wait times" which often make the biggest difference in our lives - we just may not realize it at the time! My soul quietly waits for the True God alone;  my salvation comes from Him.   He alone is my rock and my deliverance,  my citadel high on the hill; I will not be shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2 VOICE) You realize that nothing is beyond God's ability to do, right? That mea...

What is your "long enough"?  Most of us have some capacity for endurance, whether it be with the distance we walk, the amount of waiting we can tolerate, or the pain we are willing to experience before we resort to a means of relief.  "Long enough" is not a measure which is the same for each of us, but rather is a unique measure based on where we are emotionally, physically, spiritually, and even "relationally".  Sometimes our "long enough" is shortened because of emotions being on edge - too much coming at us at one time and stress building up within.  At other times, the same things could roll off our back without an issue, just because we were more "in balance" with our emotional stressors.  There is nothing more disheartening, though, than to come to the place of "long enough" when you are waiting on God to answer some need in your life.  In those times of "long enough", we want immediate relief, so any amount o...

We have had this discussion before, but I know it is one of the hardest things to do - waiting on something or someone when you just want whatever it is to be "right now".  I don't think God "wired" us to wait with patience - it must be a "learned" thing because it doesn't exactly seem to come naturally!  If I actually ran into someone who really loved to wait, I think I'd either say they were not totally firing on all cylinders or they are deeply more spiritual than I am!  Since the latter may very well be true, I shall not pass judgment, but stand in awe of the one who can actually wait in patient serenity.  So, for the rest of us who don't really enjoy this process of waiting, let me take a few moments to remind US of something we sometimes forget - we WILL wait if we want God's best for our lives.  If we don't, we might just find ourselves bringing a little misery into them unnecessarily - and we all know how much it takes to ...

Do you ever find yourself complaining that God seems to be looking the other way when you need his attention right now?  Or perhaps you think he has abandoned you to some state of misery?  I think we all have pretty much been there at least once, and if we were honest, we'd admit we come to this place a little too often before we realize God never abandons us.  We may not hear him as clearly, see how he is moving in the muddle we are in, or be strong in our faith that he is right there beside us, but he never lets us walk through stuff alone.  There were times when my kids were little that I'd suddenly realize I couldn't hear them anymore, knowing this sudden silence meant they were likely into some type of mischief!  In my losing track of what they were doing, they took full advantage of getting into something they knew they weren't supposed to be into - like pulling the toilet paper all off the roll in a huge pile around them on the floor, or dumping out all t...

Okay, I have asked this question before, but it begs asking again - how many of you actually enjoy waiting?  In this whole wide world, I don't think there are very many people who would respond, "Oh, sign me up for that one!  I love to wait!"  Most of us struggle with the wait - it starts in our infancy and continues into our adulthood.  Diapers demanded changing - not on Mom's schedule, but on ours.  Tummies needed filling - not always in the timeframe others were "hungry".  As we got a little older, boys weren't attracted to girls or girls to boys as fast as we'd have liked.  Blemishes seemed to take an eternity to disappear, but appeared totally without warning seemingly overnight!  As we moved into adulthood, there was this concept of "putting in our time" before anything like an advancement came.  All this hurry up and wait business just lends to the frustration we feel with waiting.  When our waiting involves what God has to do for...