Delay! Wait!

Some have said I have the gift of understatement. Try this world class understated observation. “Waiting is difficult!” There must be a world-wide conspiracy staffed with international teams who organize delays for my personal benefit. I have had to learn from others about patience. Impatience doesn’t run in our family, it gallops.

Understanding Noah’s life work isn’t too difficult. Building arks takes time, but there is always something to be done. Spending forty days on the ark wasn’t too bad, but long enough. A family cruise sounds good, but forty days without going ashore? The detail that challenges me is that after it stopped raining twice Noah had to wait seven days before receiving a sign that the waters had receded (Genesis 8). By that time the board games had to be boring and no one would have wanted to play charades again.

While delay is part of living, it is especially difficult for someone who was born in a hurry and hasn’t fully recovered. I remember planting tomato seeds in an eighth grade classroom. The seeds germinated in the heat of the afternoon sun where twenty or more pots had been placed. Near the end of the school year Mr. Edwards, our home room teacher, told us to take the plants home and how to transplant them. I did as instructed, but the part about a “little fertilizer” was a bit overdone. My reasoning was, if a little is good, a lot is better. I mixed soil and lawn fertilizer half and half. I sat back with high expectations, envisioning a growth spurt worthy of Guinness Book of Records. Alas, the plant failed to survive more than a couple of hours.

Our team of more than 150 volunteers from as far away as Indiana, Michigan, and Florida had just finished renovations on a building in Newark, NJ. Vailsburg Assembly of God was less than one year old, Growing Garden Preschool was in its first year, and Metropolitan Bible Institute was convening its first classes. And another building was listed for sale in the city where we planted our first church. Our congregation, Cornerstone Church, was sharing the facility with the Evangelical group composed of 25 older members that owned the property. The sale price was over $1 million. The church and parsonage were ideal for Cornerstone’s use, but out of reach financially. And then, the pressure mounted. For months I had to resist the appeals for me to raise the monies and orchestrate the purchase. Some of the stress came from interested parties, district officials, and church members. But, the greatest pressure was from within. I wanted to leap in and get it done, but knew deep within that I wasn’t to do it. The Holy Spirit spoke directly and forcibly. (Pat had also offered some rather forceful opinions!)

Time passed. The phone calls continued with appeals for help. I waited, for months. The months stretched into more than two years. And, then the reward for waiting arrived. The church that owned the property suggested a merger with Cornerstone. There was no need for a capital campaign. And, the original congregation brought their bank account of more than $50,000 with them! “Waiting isn’t easy!” But, waiting is often the only course of action. The purchase remains the best deal we never made!

I lift the following from its context in Habakkuk 2, but do no harm. “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” I have a few unanswered dreams, desires that I am eager to see fulfilled. On occasion I remind God that I am running out of time. I am waiting for more than ten years for a friend to be saved. God hears his name from my lips daily. A strategic component for the urban church and its expansion has been frustratingly long in coming. But, I believe it will be fulfilled. I have learned that after waiting for dreams to become reality, they are sweeter, more satisfying because of the delay.

Hang on friends! It may be only another seven days!