Expectantly Waiting — Carol McLeod Ministries — Carol McLeod Ministries

March is heralded as the month of kites, daffodils and noisy geese flying north.  

The third month of the year holds 31 days of March Madness … and a day upon which you are required to wear green or get pinched.

March is the month that trumpets the rebirth of an exuberant spring.

March is the month when the world breaks free from winter’s paralyzing hold and declares that He truly does make old things new.

I have always loved the promise of March … whether it was announced by the sweet bleating of a lamb or by the dominating roar of a lion!

March is such an “in-between” month.  

It is no longer the winter season of frigid days … frozen nights … and long-range blizzards … and yet … spring seems unending weeks away.

Spring … where are you?! Will you ever come knocking on my front door?!

As I look out my window today … I see grass that remains a woeful and winter brown.

I see trees that are bereft of greenery or even the hint of any pregnant budding.

My March sky, on this day, has not remembered what it means to incubate spring.  

The March sky outside of my particular window remains gray and lifeless … it only seems to guarantee either more snow or added dismal rain.  

March … quite simply … is unable to make up its March mind.

And so … I sit and wait … in the mire of March.

I wait … for the daffodils to burst through what used to be frozen.

I wait … for the glorious honking of geese as they boldly make their way toward spring.  

I wait … for a sky so blue that it gladly embraces the brilliant yellow circle of sunshine.

I wait … for confident and colorful kites to laugh in glee at what was formerly known as winter.  

I wait … not impatiently but with quiet and certain assumption of all that is yet to be.

What are you waiting for today?

A new baby?

A job? A promotion?

A letter in the mail?

A doctor’s report?

A sweet visit from someone whom you love?

A change in an otherwise boring landscape of life?

As you wait today … my prayer is that you don’t merely see what you see.  

I pray you will focus on the glory of what lies ahead.

I pray that … as you wait … you will wait not with discouragement … but with the courageous  knowledge that your vibrant spring is not far behind.

Oh! How I hope … you are not in bondage to the coldness of your past … but that you will know God’s promises can never be locked inside the frozen tundra of pain and disappointment.

Waiting is part of life.  So is expectation … anticipation … and a deep longing for what lies ahead.

I have learned that it is not enough to merely wait.  I want to wait well.

I will wait with hope and with strength.

I will wait with my eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen.

I will wait with joy knowing … believing … and claiming … the certainty of the promises of God.

How will you wait?

We all encounter an unending March on our journey to spring, don’t we? 

We all must face a time of waiting with no visible signs of encouragement.  We all choose how to deal with the March grayness of life.

I believe that underneath every discouraging, dull March moment is hidden an indescribable glory reserved for those who choose to wait well.

Don’t be afraid to wait and don’t shrug off the call to wait well.

We honor God when we wait well …  because in doing so we have made a conscious determination not to be discouraged by the gray, March seasons in life.

My life is not about getting my way, after all, but it is about honoring Him.

My life is not about what I see in the natural… but it is about honoring Him … even in the wait.

My life is not about demanding what I want right now on my dictated time schedule … but it is about giving all that I long for into His capable hands.

And so I not only wait … but I wait well.

I wait well knowing that strength is always developed in the wait.  

I wait well believing that joy is found in His promises.

I wait well with a heart focused on what is too beautiful to be seen today.

I wait well … and remind myself … that March is not eternal.  God is.

“Wait for the Lord.  Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord.” – Psalm 27:14

Thanks for listening to my heart this week.  As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart, but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me.  And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!