Nudges | Responding | We Wait
…no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! Isaiah 64:4
In 1988, an earthquake devastated part of Armenia. 250,000 people were killed, among them teachers and students in a small-town school. Parents rushed to the flattened rubble that had been their children’s school, wailing and mourning. But one father began to dig. Frantically, furiously, he lifted boards, heaved concrete pillars, and worked feverishly hour after hour. Officials tried to pull him away, insisting that there could have been no survivors. “No!” he cried, tearing himself from them and plunging back into the debris. “I made my son a promise that I would always be there for him if he needed me, so I must continue to dig.” No one joined him in what appeared to be a fruitless venture, but still he dug on. 10 hours…20 hours…36 hours… In the 38th hour, a voice called from beneath the rubble: “Dad! It’s me, Armand! Dad!”
“Armand!” father screamed. “I’m coming, son!” Others joined the rescue and within moments they pulled 13 children from the carnage. Armand flung himself into his fathers bloodied hands. “I knew you’d come! I told the other kids not to worry because you would come for me, and if I was saved, they’d be saved too.” Armand had the confidence in his father that we must have in ours. Disaster hits, there appears to be no hope, but our Father has said that He will always come for us. So we wait. When heaven seems silent, when those around us have given up, we wait. Our Father is digging through the rubble. He’s fighting demons, orchestrating rescue efforts, and planning how to rebuild our lives. Wait with confidence because even when heaven seems silent, we know that we have a God who works for those who wait for Him.
Final Thought: If you’ve not received an answer to your desperate cries for help, learn to wait with confidence.
Prayer: Father, waiting is so hard, but nothing is gained by giving up. So I will continue to wait. I will have confidence that even when I cannot see or hear you, you are coming for me. There is no God like you who works for those who wait for Him. Amen.